In a season that has often been defined by its madcap results, the opening gambit of the 2020/21 run-in gave all that came before it a run for its money, as West Brom thrashed Chelsea 5-2.
Liverpool's 7-0 win at Crystal Palace, Tottenham running out 6-1 victors at Old Trafford and Leicester thumping Manchester City 5-2 at the Etihad are just three we can mention. Most, though, came far earlier in the season.
Just as things appeared to have calmed down, perhaps the most unexpected result of the campaign has given us all the jolt we needed after a two-week hiatus filled with often turgid, one-sided international fixtures.
For a West Brom team who had won just three league games this season, and scored only four times in their previous eight games, to thump five past a Chelsea side who had only let in two goals in their previous 14 matches under Thomas Tuchel, really does take some believing.
But don't read too much into it.
Can West Brom stay up?
"A long way to go for us. Six wins out of nine I said, and now it’s five out of eight, and we might have a chance," was Sam Allardyce's reaction to their stunning win.
"Even then we might need a couple of draws, or a draw. But we’ve started on the track of trying to get an undefeated run and trying to get more wins in the last eight games than we have had all season. It’s been done before. This is a good start, but there’s a long way to go still."
Hardly Henry V is it, or Churchill. He might as well have said "great result but we're probably/definitely still going down aren't we?"
He pretty much did in fairness. And it's true.
Credit where it's due tough. This was an impressive display from Allardyce's men. But as he well knows, they need so much more to have even a glimmer of a smidgen of the faintest of hopes of staying in the Premier League.
Ahead of their Saturday lunchtime trip to Stamford Bridge, some bookies had stopped taking bets on West Brom being relegated. Even at half-time, when Albion led 10-man Chelsea 2-1, they could be taken at 100/1 to stay up.
So impressive were they in racing into a 4-1 advantage, that by the time Callum Robinson rifled in his first, to all but guarantee what would be just a fourth league win of the season, Paddy Power had quickly cut those odds to 30/1.
West Brom's remaining fixtures
- Southampton (H), Leicester (A), Aston Villa (A), Wolves (H), Arsenal (A), Liverpool (H), West Ham (H), Leeds (A)
Even if the Baggies were still available at that frankly ridiculous offering (no-one else was putting up greater than 33s) I wouldn't be rushing to back them.
Victory moved them to within seven points of fourth-bottom Newcastle, effectively eight given Albion's atrocious goal difference.
So the gap remains enormous.
What is expected goals (xG)?
- Expected goals (xG) is a metric that measures the quality of any given scoring opportunity
- Expected goals for (xGF) is the xG created by a team
- Expected goals against (xGA) is xG conceded by a team
- xG process is the rate at which a teams creates and concedes chances
They have far from an easy run-in either.
It feels like there is simply too much to do, but should they play like they did at the Bridge in their remaining eight games, they'll at least have a chance.
Yes Matheus Pereira was excellent, and lots of Albion players showed signs that have been sorely lacking over the previous 29 rounds of Premier League fixtures, but no-one should get carried away thinking the magic formula has been discovered.
For large parts of the game, especially defensively, Chelsea were truly appalling. And yet, the home side, 10 men for more than an hour, still clearly won the expected goals battle (CHE 2.64-1.43 WBA) according to Infogol.
⏱ FT
— Infogol (@InfogolApp) April 3, 2021
🔵 Chelsea - 2 (2.64 xG)
🔲 West Brom - 5 (1.43 xG)
Wow. Just wow.#CHEWBA shot map ➡️ https://t.co/H7dw5vsEK3#PremierLeague #EPL #CFC #WBA pic.twitter.com/Dlxbp3l9tX
Can Chelsea still make the top four?
This was a first defeat for Chelsea under Tuchel, and very much a deserved one if we're talking in terms of application. There simply wasn't the same level of focus and discipline as in their previous 14 matches.
“We will get the right response because this is sport and this is absolutely necessary," said Tuchel.
"It is important we digest it – it’s a lot to digest. OK, now we have to take our responsibilities, me included, and shake it off, digest it and continue. So maybe, hopefully, it is a big wake-up call for all of us, me included.
"I did not see this coming."
After a while, I think he'll cheer up. To play so poorly, and with a player fewer for so long, and still create more chances than your opponent, speaks volumes for how well Chelsea are operating under their new coach.
Tuchel was keen to focus on his team's inability to adjust following Thiago Silva's early red card, which may have been true, but in reality Chelsea were lethargic from the off. Which has been rare since he replaced Frank Lampard at the helm.
Undoubtedly they were suffering from truncated preparation that comes with being part of a Saturday lunchtime kick-off after a fortnight's international break.
Ten of the Blues' starting XI, compared with five of West Brom's, had been with their national teams. The only one who hadn't, Thiago, last played a competitive game on February 4. These were unusual circumstances in the favour of second-from-bottom against fourth place.
When it comes to Thiago, a man who has made his career as a classy, unflappable centre-half, the mercilessness of the Premier League has been laid bare by him twice being exposed by West Bromwich Albion this season.
Just as back in October on his much-vaunted Chelsea debut, he looked every inch 36-years-old.
🗓 First appearance since February 4.
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) April 3, 2021
⚠ 5' - Booked for foul on Matheus Pereira
🔴 29' - Sent off after second yellow card for challenge on Okay Yokuslu
🤦♂️ Not a welcome return for Thiago Silva. Reckless.#CFC | #CHEWBA pic.twitter.com/k5E8Y5ZNS1
It really was no surprise to see him sent off for two clumsy yellow cards comfortably in advance of the half-time whistle.
The Blues weren't great before that, but they still led through Christian Pulisic's scrambled finish. It undoubtedly changed the game.
Taking into account the way this bizarre, congested, behind-closed-doors campaign has played out, there is little reason to view this result as anything more than a blip. Another freak result in a season of freak results.
For it to have taken 15 games for Tuchel to taste defeat as Chelsea boss is impressive. But dropping an unfit Thiago into a disjointed, underprepared, team, was undoubtedly a major error.
Chelsea's remaining fixtures
- Crystal Palace (A), Brighton (H), West Ham (A), Fulham (H), Man City (A), Arsenal (H), Leicester (H), Aston Villa (A)
Before kick-off, the Infogol model gave Chelsea a 75% chance of clinching a top-four finish, a percentage that will have dropped somewhat after a shock defeat.
But they have shown more than enough in the past two months to believe they will quickly bounce back.
Starting with Porto in the Champions League quarter-finals in midweek.
Match report: West Brom stun 10-man Chelsea
Matheus Pereira’s fine brace sparked West Brom’s stunning 5-2 Premier League rout of 10-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Thiago Silva was sent off for two yellow cards after just 29 minutes as Thomas Tuchel’s 14-match unbeaten start at the Chelsea helm came to a startling end.
Tuchel predicted before kick-off that veteran centre-back Silva would not last the course on his first match since February 4 due to a thigh injury.
But the Blues’ German boss could never have predicted the manner of Silva’s premature exit, a first red card since 2013.
Brazilian forward Pereira took his two goals in first-class fashion before Callum Robinson’s double and a smart finish from Mbaye Diagne sealed relegation-battling West Brom’s first win in four league games.
Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount hit the net for Chelsea but the Blues tasted defeat for the first time since January 19.
West Brom’s comprehensive victory proved their first win at Stamford Bridge since 1978.
