Full player ratings: Chelsea's 9/10 marvel turns the screw on Spurs

in , , , , , , ,

Chelsea booked their ticket in the EFL Cup final after bouncing back with 4-2 penalty win over Tottenham after 2-2 draw on aggregate.

Maurizio Sarri put his weekend blues behind him with an electric first half performance; N’Golo Kante opening the scoring with a triple nutmeg thunderbolt before Eden Hazard glanced a timely finish past Paulo Gazzaniga.

However, Spurs would not go out quietly and pulled back on aggregate with a Fernando Llorente header, sending the tie to penalties. Chelsea kept their nerve in the subsequent shoot-out, winning 4-2 on the day, and setting up a mouthwatering final against Man City.

And so, after a pulsating affair at Stamford Bridge, how did the players rate?

Chelsea

Kepa Arrizabalaga – 7 – A passenger in the opening 45, but when the first question was asked of him, the Spaniard could do nothing as Llorente fired home. Produced wonders in the shoot-out, however, with a fine save on Lucas Moura.

Cesar Azpilicueta – 7 – A captain’s performance from the Spanish stalwart, Azpilicueta defended with a brutish force and offered his compatriot Pedro invaluable support on the wing, setting up Hazard for Chelsea’s second with a pinpoint cross.

Key stat: No player made more passes than Cesar Azpilicueta during the 90 minutes.

Antonio Rudiger – 7 – Formed an industrious centre-back partnership with Luiz, keeping the north London club at bay for the majority of the match and allowing them just the single shot on target.

David Luiz – 8 – From minute one the Brazilian looked up for it, putting his body on the line and spraying passes with a South American verve. The mercurial defender did struggle when Llorente bullied him out the way to bring the scores level, but he scored the winning penalty in emphatic fashion.

Emerson Palmieri – 6 – With Marcos Alonso dropped, this was a real chance for Palmieri to stake a claim for a starting berth, and he done his chances of future first-team action no harm. The buccaneering left-back was energetic and linked up fluidly with Hazard on the flank.       

N’Golo Kante – 8 – Still adjusting to life in a more advanced role under Sarri, but Kante was the engine in the heart of Chelsea’s midfield tonight, playing with his typical intensity, and he broke the deadlock with a sumptuous finish in the first half.    

Jorginho – 7 – The metronome in midfield, Jorginho was given more room to flourish in the middle of the park, and much like his teammates a sensational first half was not followed up in the second. A few wayward passes were the only real blemishes on a composed central midfield performance.   

Ross Barkley – 6 – Had the vim and heart tonight, and after his first-half performance it was looking like the England international was really sending signals to Sarri. His energy tailed off after the restart but this was a solid performance.  

Pedro – 5 – Certainly got himself in some excellent positions, but his delivery and decision-making in the final third was below par tonight; Chelsea needed a more unflappable head when they got into dangerous areas.

Olivier Giroud – 4 – A similar performance to that of Llorente, except his target man counterpart managed to find the back of the net where the Frenchman failed. Chelsea fans will be livid if Gonzalo Higuain isn’t starting next match as Giroud missed a number of glorious chances.  

Eden Hazard – 9 – Deployed in his more natural position on the wing. And what a performance from the diminutive Belgian. He had the zest and zeal of his early season form, dancing and pirouetting between the Spurs defence. A fine finish to double the host’s advantage as well.  

Substitutes:

Willian (for Pedro 76) – 5 – Came on with 15 to go but squandered a few chances and failed to leave a lasting impression.

Mateo Kovacic (for Barkley 81) – N/A – Entered the pitch for the tiring Barkley but had little time to influence proceedings.

Tottenham

Paulo Gazzaniga – 6 – Kante’s opener was struck with such ferocity and passed through the legs of two of his teammates that it would be hard to overly criticise the Argentine. His distribution was first class this evening, getting counter-attacks going with great pace.       

Serge Aurier – 4 – It is no easy task having to deal with Hazard, but in truth the Belgian ripped the right-back to pieces, though there is no shame in that.

Toby Alderweireld – 5 – Made a questionable challenge on Hazard in the first half but came out in the second and redeemed himself – alongside Vertonghen. Their task was to deal with Giroud and they done just that with the striker firing a blank.

Jan Vertonghen – 6 – A difficult first-half, but he came out in the second and asserted his authority. Giroud hardly had a sniff with the Belgian breathing down his neck.    

Ben Davies – 5 – The Welshman was having a fairly routine match before injury forced him off. He was caught out of position on a few occasions, but looked threatening going forward.   

Eric Dier – 4 – The anchorman was charging about the pitch, taking out anyone in his path, and while this was reckless at times, it proved effective in breaking up Chelsea’s rhythm.     

Harry Winks – 5 – A cool head in the middle of the park, and with the energy levels that Chelsea were exerting, Spurs needed his composure, with no outfield player having a better pass success rate than Winks (91 per cent) other than Alderweireld.    

Moussa Sissoko – 5 – Started the match lively and looked like he would play a key role in this match, but his influence faded and he was subsequently substituted off in the dying embers. 

Christian Eriksen – 6 – One of Spurs’ better performers on the night, from an attacking point of view, but the Dane lacked the requisite quality around him in the final third. That said he produced some lovely touches and his passing was as elegant as ever.    

Erik Lamela – 5 – Looked lively and threatened whenever he found the ball at his feet, and while the Argentine offered promise in the final third he largely failed to really exploit the Chelsea defence.

Fernando Llorente – 5 – The Spaniard had an absolutely horrendous first-half but his goal after the restart was a massive turning point in this game, and he deserves huge credit for manoeuvring his body to get his header off – top forward thinking play. 

Substitutes:

Danny Rose (for Davis 33) – 7 – Offered intensity on the left and was far more threatening than Davis who was forced off through injury. Rose was Spurs’ best player tonight.

Lucas Moura (for Llorente 68) – 5 – Came on and used his pace the run at the tiring Chelsea legs. The Brazilian had a few glimmers of brilliance but didn’t really stamp his authority and subsequently missed his penalty.     

Davinson Sanchez (for Sissoko 80) – N/A – Substituted on the see the game out and take it to penalties.

The post Every player rated as Chelsea reach League Cup Final with shootout win over Spurs appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News http://bit.ly/2Wdmz6G
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)