Monday night was a great one for Chelsea supporters all in all, especially those that are English.
They got to see Thomas Tuchel, a man adored by the majority of fans for what he did during his tenure at Stamford Bridge, win his second match as Three Lions boss - a 3-0 victory over Latvia at Wembley. On top of that, Chelsea captain Reece James scored an absolute peach of a free-kick for his first international goal at senior level.
James made his first England start in almost three years on Monday in Tuchel's second match as manager since taking over from Gareth Southgate. The 25-year-old has had torrid fortune with injuries in recent seasons and has been absent for plenty of England squads. And when he has been fit, he has been unable to get back to the level he has previously shown.
However, we have seen James fit - and there needs to be an element of 'touch wood' here - throughout 2025 so far. Yes, we are not even in April yet, but small steps and all that. James returned to the matchday squad for Chelsea's defeat to Ipswich Town on December 30 and bar an illness that saw him sit out of the win over Leicester City earlier this month, he has been involved in some capacity ever since.
Since returning to action, James has scored three goals - two for Chelsea and one for England. Two of them have come from direct free-kicks. The aforementioned strike against Latvia for the Three Lions was his second, with his first being a late, late equaliser in the draw with Bournemouth on January 14.
He has shot twice from direct free-kicks this season and the Blues captain has found the back of the net on both occasions - a quite remarkable return rate, albeit from a small sample size. Cole Palmer has been the man tasked with taking direct free-kicks for the majority of the season but the 22-year-old's rate is not quite as impressive.
Palmer has scored just one of his 13 shots from direct free-kicks in all competitions. That was of course the beautiful strike he produced against Brighton way back in September that flew into the top corner. We all know what Palmer is capable of from a set-piece in a shooting position, but he has not been able to produce it on a consistent basis - leaving many fans frustrated.
James was used at right-back in England's win at Wembley, with Tuchel believing the Chelsea skipper is best when deployed in a wide position. Enzo Maresca said earlier in the month, after James impressed from the centre of midfield in the win away at Copenhagen, that he sees the England international operating in the middle in the long-term.
Tuchel, speaking after the win against Latvia, disagrees with Maresca: "I think we did it very rarely with Chelsea [during his time at Stamford Bridge]. When you play a dominant match like today, he can be in the last 20 minutes a hybrid midfielder where he comes from the left or right full-back position and helps in midfield to create an overload.
"He has the quality on the ball to accelerate with his passes, to play chip balls to each side. He is very confident. Once it is an open game and a lot of transitions through midfield, I am not so sure it would suit him perfectly.
"There cannot be any doubt about Reece's quality in itself - it is at the highest level. We have been in close contact over the last weeks and we are absolutely sure and clear that he trained for several weeks without pause. If he didn't play, it was the choice of the club; he was not injured and they protected him which is fair enough.
"We knew he is in good shape, a good space mentally and that is what he proved. He was very positive around camp, full of energy and he showed that today on the pitch."