Tammy Abraham, Dominic Solanke and now Bertrand Traore... Ex-Chelsea striker's winner for Lyon another bitter pill to swallow for Antonio Conte

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Antonio Conte’s recent grumpiness won’t have been improved by another striker sent away by Chelsea becoming a match-winning hero on Thursday night.

Bertrand Traore scored a stunning second-half winner for Lyon at Everton in the Europa League and gave an impressive all-round peformance, not least when he stood toe-to-toe with Ashley Williams in a real heavyweight battle.

Traore spent last season on loan from Chelsea to Ajax, where he reached a Europa League Final, and then promptly sold in the summer to France for a bargain £9million.

Bertrand Traore scored Lyon's winning goal against Everton on Thursday with a clever finish

It means while Conte struggled to replace Alvaro Morata during the Spaniard’s recent injury, Traore, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke were no longer available, with Diego Costa also departed of course.

The Italian manager won’t have forgotten any of that when he played Michy Batshuayi – a forward he doesn’t seem to rate – at Crystal Palace, resulting in a 2-1 defeat.

Abraham, 20, scored twice for loan club Swansea against Huddersfield last Saturday while Solanke, the same age, has impressed Jurgen Klopp in his cameo displays for Liverpool after deciding to move to Anfield as a free agent.

On-loan Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham bagged a brace playing for Swansea at the weekend

At Goodison, it was Traore to remind Roman Abramovich what he’s let go.

Able to play down the middle as a target man or wide because of his pace, Traore started on the right-hand side of a front three and was always a willing runner and showing for the ball, linking up with another Premier League old boy, Memphis Depay.

The stand-out moment of quality that first attracted Chelsea was in evidence after 75 minutes.

Maxwel Cornet fired in a cross from the right and Traore got in front of Michael Keane and sent a perfect flicked finish past Jordan Pickford.

Antonio Conte has complained about his Chelsea squad's lack of depth this campaign

Michy Batshuayi was substituted off before the hour mark in Chelsea's loss at Crystal Palace

At 22, Traore has already had experience of the Premier League – he scored against Newcastle and Stoke as well as FA Cup strikes against MK Dons and Manchester City – and enjoyed his time in Dutch football, first with Chelsea’s feeder club Vitesse Arnhem and then Ajax, where he scored 13 tines last season and was one of their better players facing Manchester United in the European final.

His latest goal against Everton may not provide solid evidence that he deserved a chance ahead of Morata.

But with Chelsea’s title challenge already damaged by points dropped in the Spaniard’s absence, it makes you wonder why he was allowed to leave when he, Abraham and Solanke would have been useful cover.