Minutes played 90 Touches 69 Passes 40/44 Shots 2/3 Take-ons 3/3 Aerial duels 4/6 Clearances 8/8 On the list of things I expected from Chelsea in the new season, Branislav Ivanović being involved in the first four goals scored (in the first two games) was probably somewhere near the bottom, if on the list at all.

While he didn't get an official assist on Diego Costa's goal -- because official assist stats are weird -- Ivanović played a key role in setting up the winning goal with a lung-bursting run, an outrageous dummy that sold two defenders (and was probably unexpected by just about any and every observer), and the composure to pick out the striker. Of course the cross was partially deflected, but as far as Ivanović crosses go, that's not a bad outcome.

It's perhaps surprising that big money signing Filipe Luis has yet to get a sniff of first-team action, but with Ivanović beasting it on the right side and César Azpilicueta being ALL DAVE E'RY DAVE on the left, perhaps it is not.