The defender crashed home a header early in the second half against Leeds yesterday to open his account in England’s top-flight after a frustrating and lengthy spell on the sidelines. It was his 42nd appearance in the competition, and his fifth in Chelsea blue.

Fofana had already gone close in the first half, and the next time he timed his run at a Ben Chilwell corner to perfection and hung in the air, he was rewarded with a landmark goal. In turn Chelsea were rewarded with a first three points in six weeks.

‘The feeling is incredible,’ said Fofana.

‘After my goal the stadium was crazy. Everybody was all together, and the goal was for the whole club.

‘On Friday at the training ground I worked on set-pieces, the timing of my run, and then I scored. It’s perfect. The injury for four months, it was hard emotionally, but when I scored everything was leaving me.

‘I scored, the team won, and a clean sheet as well. It was a very good day and now we’re focused for Tuesday.

‘Everybody is trying to score, defenders and attackers,’ added the 22-year-old.

‘It was me but next game it’s Joao or Kai or any player.

‘We just need to push and work and try to win every game. That’s it.’