Man Utd v Chelsea player ratings
Chelsea were beaten at Old Traford for the second successive season despite a largely impressive performance. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the 2-1 defeat.
Thibaut Courtois: 6
Could do nothing about either goal and was otherwise barely involved. However, his only noteable save was a fabulous one, reacting quickly to tip over Romelu Lukaku’s close-range volley.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 7
As solid and dependable as ever, Chelsea’s captain did not put a foot wrong defensively and used the ball simply and efficiently.
Andreas Christensen: 8
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Christensen’s display was the perfect response to those who were quick to go overboard after his rare error gifted Barcelona their goal in midweek. His composure and presence shone through and he was unfortunate in the build-up to Lukaku’s goal when he took a knock to the head, but otherwise made a good fist of dealing with the burly striker.
Antonio Rudiger: 7
Had a fine game, until, crucially, he was too slow to close down Lukaku for the cross for the winning goal. He looks more and assured in possession, adding another dimension to go with his powerful and athletic defensive work.
Victor Moses: 6
Saw plenty of the ball in good areas and had numerous nearly moments, but arguably should have created more than he did from the promising situations he had.
Danny Drinkwater: 7
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Did well defensively, contributing a great deal with a screening role that allowed N’Golo Kante a bit more freedom to press. His cautious tendencies can sometine slow down the tempo but he had a more than decent game.
N’Golo Kante: 8
Yet another imperious performance by the Frenchman who seemed to be in top gear from the first minute. He made the most of having another defensive-minded player alongside him.
Marcos Alonso: 6
Alonso’s workrate was typically exhausting to watch, but nothing quite fell his way to reward his energetic support play.
Willian: 9
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Outstanding once again, scoring a fine goal and running at the United defence at every opportunity. The Brazilian has been at the peak of his powers in recent outings and excelled once again.
Eden Hazard: 7
He was on the end of some predictably tough treatment, but continued to demand possession and look to dictate play. He was particuarly impressive before the break when his influence and ability to drop deep was the main reason for Chelsea’s dominance, but the Belgian struggled to find as much space when the hosts started to press more after the break.
Alvaro Morata: 5
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Started brightly but will forever be playing way below his potential if he continues to be so weak in possession and quick to go down under the merest of touches. He was desperately unlucky with the early volley that hit the bar and improved in the second half when he had a goal very harshly ruled out for offside, but given his obvioust talent he has to be stronger, braver and contribute much more.
Pedro: 6
Nippy and busy without quite managing to influence things in the closing stages.
Olivier Giroud: 6
Showed Morata how to hold the ball up on a couple of occasions after coming on late on, but also wasted possession once or twice.
Cesc Fabregas: 7
Was only on the pitch for a few minutes but his sensational pass for Morata’s disallowed goal should have earned a point.
