The occasion was the first match of 2022 – a January home meeting with Liverpool who raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. In a game of breathtaking pace and all-round quality, the Blues struck back twice in three minutes before half-time and it was Kovacic’s thunderbolt that set the agenda and rocked the Reds. The match ended all-square.

A Marcos Alonso free-kick was punched clear of the penalty area by the Liverpool goalkeeper, Caoimhin Kelleher, but Kova managed to back off to meet the flight of the ball and volleyed perfectly over the crowd in front of him to score off the inside of the right-hand post.

It was later voted by our fans the Chelsea Goal of the Season, unsurprisingly picking up the Premier League Goal of the Month award along the way.

Here’s what Mateo himself had to say about the goal…

‘That goal was very nice and of course one of the most beautiful goals in my career. I have to say there was a little bit of luck involved because it went in off the post, but I was happy to score.

‘We showed great character to come back after conceding two goals. It was one of the best atmospheres I have experienced in Stamford Bridge, to be honest, because when I scored the people really got up. Then two minutes later Christian [Pulisic] scores and it was an explosion. It was a really nice moment to be involved in such a great game.’