How unlikely hero inspired Chelsea past Manchester United in major Xabi Alonso boost

Romeo Lavia was only told on Friday that he would be starting but was the outstanding individual for Chelsea on a day when there was initially nervousness detectable from the home fans after successive defeats by Tottenham and Liverpool, which had wiped some of the sheen off the honeymoon period for manager Xabi Alonso.That tenseness in the stands took an age to dissipate but the moment it did could be accurately traced back to when Lavia stormed in to make a tackle in the middle of the park and then stuck another toe on the resulting loose ball to tuck it to the man beside him in Morgan Rogers. The turnover leaving him plenty of open turf to lap up, Rogers took full advantage, slinking his way through a United backline soon to be one goal down, then a man down after Lisandro Martinez had needlessly clattered Wesley Fofana off the ball.They were two goals down as Cole Palmer netted the resultant penalty and wrapped up Chelsea’s three points.Read MoreDid Alonso’s side deserve their victory? Probably not before Rogers gave them that lead. However, Lavia’s performance, unlike Chelsea’s, was compelling and convincing throughout.His midfield industry, tackles, interceptions and well-spotted passes gave Chelsea’s attacking players that platform to purr in the second half.The sight of Lavia stationed alongside Chelsea’s finest midfielder, Moises Caicedo, has long felt a farfetched fantasy for many of the club’s supporters.The Belgian has endured injury hell since his 2023 move from Southampton, disrupting his progress and leaving some to expect the club to find a way of evolving past a talented defensive midfielder whose signing they might lamentably have had to label a failed experiment through no fault of his own or theirs.His second season at Chelsea saw him miss 33 games, down from 42 matches out the previous campaign. Last year then saw him make significant progress in his fitness and availability.The early indications this term have been of another step taken in the right direction. After a first-ever full 90 minutes for Chelsea on Wednesday night at Anfield, he completed another one here.Right from the off, it was clear that Chelsea wanted to press high as they welcomed confidence-shot United to Stamford Bridge in the lunchtime kick-off.That was despite poor underlying numbers in those areas; they came into the game having allowed the third-most passes before engaging in the press, on average, in the division - only promoted Hull and Coventry having shown a greater tendency to sit back and wait rather than bolt out of the blocks.Yet Rogers, out on the left, could be heard barking as he asked for help in the press from Marco Palestra, whose performance on his first competitive start for Chelsea was iffy at best.Alonso seemed to take an instant liking to Henderson and Caicedo as a midfield partnership, not much of a surprise after Reece James’s absence through injury.But the illness that kept Henderson out on Saturday gave Lavia an opportunity to press his case for greater involvement, and to shoulder greater responsibility at the club.That is something that might have happened a while ago, had a 22-year-old blighted by injury not had such a difficult ride during his time in west London. He can kick on now.