Chelsea 4 Tottenham Hotspur 2Thanks to the TV cameras trained constantly on the face of Roman Abramovich, it is possible to gauge his response to every goal at Stamford Bridge.
While the cameras must hope to record a burst of passion from Chelsea's owner or, perhaps, that first moment of disenchantment, currently they get a nervous smile, a polite clap and a look of utter bemusement.
It could be the look of someone who has just unpacked a new train set and is marvelling at the very idea of it - or the expression of a man reported to have paid a fee unmatched in British business to recruit Peter Kenyon, whose job as chief executive will be to take Chelsea to the very heart of power in European football.
Which is the real Abramovich? Claudio Ranieri has more reason than most to desire clarification. Speculation insists Ranieri must win every match to keep his job. The Italian appears intent on doing so anyway, his commitment matched by his team in this win that, while not perfect, was often stunning in its execution.
Ranieri underplayed the win. "The way we started with conceding the goal was no good. Maybe the players were like 'oh, we must win', but no. Calm. We are building. Maybe the players think we are something but we aren't a team yet." Insisting on the toughness of the job ahead may be a smart tactic in the game of pleasing the plutocrat. There were clever moves in the match, too, as Ranieri responded to going behind to Freddie Kanoute's goal. In a side so understrength it had room for a France World Cup winner and a Nigerian international of more than 50 caps, he got the best from his big-ticket performers.
Dragging Damien Duff from the wing into the centre of the pitch disrupted the Spurs midfield of Darren Anderton and Jamie Redknapp, who had been freely lofting balls to their forwards. It also teamed the Dubliner with Adrian Mutu.
After Frank Lampard, with a rare header, had stooped to equalise, Duff and Mutu concocted the goal of the game. A pass out of defence was chested on by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink into Duff's path. While he ran straight at the back-pedalling Dean Richards, Mutu pulled wide. Duff saw the run, timed the pass and the Romanian finished low under Kasey Keller.
"When I bought this player I had in my mind, this could link with this, this with this", Ranieri explained. "This will take time but, when you have players who are very fast and understand the team-mate's intention, it is easier."
Mutu made everything look easy on Saturday and while the Tinkerman will no doubt make changes for tomorrow's Champions League game with Sparta Prague, he Romanian will surely not be among them.
Duff should continue alongside him but another impressive 15-minute cameo from Joe Cole pressed his claims too. A slide-rule pass set up Mutu for his second goal and a little chip started the move that Hasselbaink ended for the fourth. Spurs scored between times, Kanoute turning in his second after Richards's effort had hit the post.
