This was not the dream comeback, but it was a step in the right direction on Romelu Lukaku’s road to Chelsea redemption.

Lukaku’s commitment, which he himself had put a question mark over, was evident in a performance full of endeavour, even if it was short on top quality when his two big chances arrived.

He should have scored with a first-half header and could have done better with a late shot, but Lukaku played his part in a comfortable victory over Tottenham Hotspur and he can be grateful the Chelsea fans appear willing to forgive him even if it might take some time to forget what he said in his controversial interview.

The grovelling apologies will have helped, but it is what Lukaku now does on the pitch that will really decide whether Chelsea’s £97.5 million record signing can win back the hearts of the club’s supporters. At the final whistle, he made a point of going over to clap one end of Stamford Bridge.

One thing is for sure, Antonio Conte, back at Chelsea for the first time as head coach of Tottenham, will always love Lukaku following their successful time together at Inter Milan.

Thomas Tuchel had been keen to shut down the noise around Lukaku, following the saga that saw him dropped for the Liverpool game, and the 28-year-old arrived at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night with big headphones over his blue beanie hat.

It was ironic that on Lukaku’s return to the team, Tuchel made a significant change to his system for only the second time since succeeding Frank Lampard as Chelsea head coach. Tuchel had been confused by Lukaku’s claim that he had “played with a different system”, given that the German had only once deviated from a back three before this semi-final tie.

But with Lukaku straight back in the team and in the middle of a front three, Tuchel, for the first time since last season’s trip to Leeds, started with a back four. The change suited Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech either side of Lukaku, but some of the familiar problems remained for the Belgian during a dominant first half for Chelsea.

After 30 minutes, Lukaku had only touched the ball four times and the most interesting thing about his evening had been the Tottenham supporters singing “Romelu Lukaku, he’s Inter Milan”.

Ahead of the match, Chelsea fans had neither cheered nor booed Lukaku’s name when it was read out and he embraced each of his team-mates before kick-off.

A couple of minutes after being serenaded by the visiting Spurs fans, Lukaku won the free-kick from which Ben Davies scored an own goal almost as bewildering as the striker’s public relations own goal in front of the Sky Italia cameras.

Lukaku was tackled by Davinson Sanchez as he tried to round him on the right, but Conte’s former star striker won the ball back and the Spurs defender hacked him down. It was from Ziyech’s delivery that Japhet Tanganga then headed the ball into Davies, who watched it bounce back into the net.

There had been an encouraging link-up with Havertz in the opening 20 seconds, although Lukaku failed to find his team-mate inside the box after being set free by his header.

But, otherwise, there had been the familiar sight of the ball sailing over Lukaku’s head on too many occasions as Chelsea tried to hit him with high balls. One cross from Ziyech found its intended target in the 41st minute, but Lukaku glanced his header wide of a post when he really should have scored.

Lukaku got his foot to a low cross from Marcos Alonso, but his hooked effort just after the restart was easy for Hugo Lloris to catch.

Timo Werner replaced Havertz for the second half and he linked well with Lukaku to create a good chance for Ziyech, who made it far too easy for Lloris with a poor shot. The fact Lukaku had received the ball on the ground was far more encouraging.

It was noticeable that after ­Werner, who has endured so many difficult moments but never allowed his frustration to boil over, flashed a shot wide, the home crowd responded by chanting his name. It may be a while before Lukaku is afforded similar backing, although he did receive a cheer when he knocked Sanchez over.

Lukaku was keen to run the channels, track back to tackle where he could and his hold-up play was good. There is still work to be done, but the healing process has begun.