Sometimes, the more things stay the same, the more they change. So it was at Stamford Bridge, where James Ward-Prowse did as he so often does, dragging Southampton towards three vital points with yet another sumptuous free-kick.
And where Chelsea did as they so often do now, too: they fired a blank, failed to win, but the message from above remained consistent. The club back manager Graham Potter and his long-time project.
By the end of this humiliation, however, it was impossible not to sense the shift around Stamford Bridge.
In one corner of the Shed End, where Southampton’s supporters — now daring to believe — serenaded interim boss Ruben Selles.