Chelsea really should have an FA Cup final date with Manchester United to look forward to. Mauricio Pochettino's side went down 1-0 against Manchester City in a pulsating last four tie on Saturday, with Bernardo Silva scoring the only goal of the game late on, but it could have been so different.
The Blues were unfortunate not to receive a penalty for what appeared to be a clear Jack Grealish handball in the second half, and they spurned a host of glorious chances - most of which fell to Nicolas Jackson. The 22-year-old's lack of composure proved costly, and overshadowed what was otherwise an impressive individual performance.
"Jackson was arguably the best player on the pitch and the worst player on the pitch all in the same game, which I have not seen before," former England defender Stuart Pearce said after covering the game for talkSPORT. "If he could finish, they would have won comfortably.”
It was a continuation of what has been a very mixed first year in English football for Jackson, who hasn't quite managed to justify his £30 million ($37m) price tag. It would be easy for Chelsea to write off that investment and look for suitors in the summer transfer window, accepting that Jackson won't be the man to break their No.9 curse. But that could be a mistake.
Jackson is on a steep learning curve, but there is still plenty of reason to believe he can go on and become a Stamford Bridge favourite, albeit not quite in the same mould as the man he is most often compared to...