During the game against Norwich, Chelsea looked somewhat toothless upfront again, having the good fortune to score a late penalty courtesy of Lampard and then a dying minute goal through Juan Mata, who has now scored as many as Fernando Torres for Chelsea, albeit in 21 minutes, not 21 games.

Clearly a high point for the blues was the debut and promise shown by Mata, something that far outstrips anything his fellow Spaniard has done since his £50 million move to the Bridge.

Mata looks full of confidence and happy to be at the club, everything that Torres does not. Chelsea fans will hope that by having a fellow international teammate and friend at Stamford Bridge, Torres may feel more at home, with the striker instrumental in convincing Mata that a move to Chelsea was the right one to make. More vitally than that, the way Mata plays and passes the ball suits Torres and his style of play – something that Chelsea have so far struggled to accommodate, having played with Drogba as the central striker for so long, and also being heavily reliant on Lampard for goals, the passing and movement that Torres requires has been somewhat lacking.

Roll on a week, and Torres was warming the bench for the majority of the game against Sunderland, with Chelsea finally looking something like what we have come to expect. The issue however, was that the two strikers up front were neither Torres or Drogba – still recovering from the horrific head injury he sustained the week earlier, but Anelka and young Daniel Sturridge, who after an impressive pre-season is finally getting a chance at Chelsea. Torres did come on for the final 15 minutes, but looked pretty much the same as he has done since his ill-fated move to the bridge.

Mata on the other hand looked dazzling, and is already justifying his transfer fee. During his time in Spain at the Mestalla the little winger had a 1 in 3 goal to game ratio, fairly impressive coming from someone who is not a striker by trade and was playing for a club who in recent years have sold all their best players, including Mata’s compatriots David’s Villa and Silva. With a goal to his name already, and a stellar performance in his second game for the club, Mata is already enhancing his reputation and enduring himself to the fans.

Torres’ miserable time is continuing, with Del Bosque dropping him from the Spanish team, stating that you get picked by playing well for your clubs, not the other way around, and Torres’ Chelsea form will have to improve if he wishes to break back into the Spanish national side, something that is easier said than done with Villa and Negredo in particular in scintillating form for their club sides, not to mention a wealth of talent in the way of attacking midfielders.

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