The Blues were on top throughout the first half and grabbed the lead when Trevoh Chalobah powerfully headed his first goal of the campaign from a Conor Gallagher set piece.

And when Nicolas Jackson reacted quickly to nod home after Cole Palmer's free-kick hit the crossbar in the second half, Pochettino's team had done enough to secure victory and another league double over our London rivals.

Our performance was another fine one in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful and it gave our head coach, in his view, the most satisfying night of his Chelsea tenure so far.

’I don’t know if it is the best game of the season, but it is the one I am most happy after. ’The way we played and in the way we competed, that is what we have wanted from the beginning of the season.

'That is what we want to apply to the team. We were so competitive and in this way we can grow and do better in other areas.'

The Blues’ opening goal of the night, which came at the midway point of the first half, was made in our academy.

Gallagher's inch-perfect delivery from a free-kick found fellow Cobham graduate Chalobah at the back post, and the defender steered a firm header into the net to put us en route to victory.

‘They were fantastic,' Pochettino said. 'We talk about the identity of the club, they are players that have come through the Academy system and I think they have the capacity in this type of game to give a little bit more, because it is emotional.

‘But that doesn’t mean the players that don’t come through the Academy don’t feel the same. You can see Thiago [Silva] is the same, you can see how he feels now, you can build this bond with your team.

‘Of course, today they were fantastic, but the whole team was fantastic.’

The victory was all the more impressive given Chelsea had 14 senior players ruled out through injury. That put extra responsibility on the starters and Pochettino highlighted one player who has taken that on in recent outings.

'Noni Madueke today was unbelievable,' said Pochettino. 'If you analyse him at the start of the season – before all the conversations and meetings, the clips and videos, things like this – he was always, like today, capable of doing a fantastic job with the ball.

'Of course, he is an offensive player but without the ball he is doing a fantastic job to help Alfie [Gilchrist] defend. That is what we need for the future, to build this competitive spirit."