Season Highlights: N'Golo Kanté Stars as Chelsea Take Liverpool to the Limit in UEFA Super Cup

If there's one thing we know about N'Golo Kanté, it's that he loves exceeding expectations.

He was never supposed to be more than an unknown midfielder in France, and then he became a Premier League champion. When we thought he had peaked, he went to Chelsea and did it all again, and then he went and led France to World Cup glory.

Kanté was then supposed to flounder in a more advanced role under Maurizio Sarri, but he produced arguably his best football ever under the Italian. So in other words: underestimate him at your own peril.

Nevertheless, everyone (including Chelsea fans) had written Kanté off for the start of the 2019/20 season. He had picked up an injury towards the end of the previous campaign and could barely feature during Frank Lampard's first pre-season. His fitness was miles off. It would take him an eternity to get back, right?

So, when Lampard threw Kanté into his starting lineup for the Super Cup clash with European champions Liverpool in August 2019, nobody believed in him. Fortunately for the Frenchman, that's exactly the kind of situation he thrives in.

Kanté was at his dominant best. Technically, it looked like he hadn't missed a beat, and his fitness levels were beyond belief.

At both ends of the pitch, he was untouchable. In attack, his passing was elite and he was creating plenty of chances for his teammates, while he was clearing up defensively as well with his three tackles, two aerial duels and one interception.

However, what was perhaps most impressive was his movement and stamina. Despite playing almost no football for months, Kanté played all 120 minutes of the game and did not slow down once, despite admitting that he was physically struggling late on.

"He’s not trained that much, I’ve had to protect him because he’s played and played and played for years and he had a serious injury," Lampard said of Kanté after the game (via The Sun).

"He said to me at half-time in extra-time that his legs were finished, his legs were dead - and then he’s sprinting 50 yards to cover. We know how important he is to this club and we’re delighted to have him."

As the saying goes: "70% of the earth is covered by water. The rest is covered by N'Golo Kanté".

Unfortunately for Kanté, his efforts ended up being in vain. After the sides had exchanged leads during the 120 minutes, they could not be separated by the full-time whistle. With the score at 2-2, the game was sent to penalties, and it was Liverpool who came out on top.

Despite going toe-to-toe with probably the best team around right now, Chelsea were left licking their wounds with nothing to show for their efforts, and Kanté's dominant performance seemed to slip under the radar. It was perhaps his best showing in Chelsea blue, but it has fallen through the cracks of this season.

Now, having continued to struggle with injury and fail to break into Lampard's side permanently, the attention towards Kanté has turned somewhat negative. People are more focused on what has gone wrong this year, and nobody remembers how the Super Cup performance went so right.

There's talk of Kanté being sold this summer, with fans seemingly forgetting what he can do on the field. In their defence, it's been a while since we've seen that consistently, but a top Kanté performance is never far away.

There's no denying that this season has been far from ideal for anyone. Chelsea's midfield has missed someone of Kanté's capabilities, and the Frenchman's reputation has taken a slight knock because of his struggles.

However, this Super Cup performance is something all Blues fans need to remember. When Kanté is at his lowest, he produces his best. It's all about patience.

Source : 90min