Chelsea v Lille player ratings

Goals from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic gave Chelsea a 2-0 first-leg win in their Champions League round-of-16 clash. Here’s how we rated each Blues player.

Edouard Mendy: 6

Mendy had as quiet a night as he’ll ever get in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Lille barely threatened his goal – with just two shots on target – and certainly didn’t force any heroics from the Chelsea goalkeeper.

Andreas Christensen: 7

Looked solid once more alongside Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger as Thomas Tuchel returned to a back three. Christensen dealt well with the threat of Jonathan David and those playing behind him and ensured substitute Burak Yilmaz barely had a sniff in the second half.

Thiago Silva: 7

As composed as ever at the back. Always in the right place at the right time, Silva really does stand out as the coolest man on the pitch. Lille, however, didn’t put him under too much pressure.

Antonio Rudiger: 6

Was very lucky not to gift Lille an equaliser with a comical own goal, mis-kicking to flick the ball behind him and over Mendy’s bar. Aside from that, Rudiger was as dominant as ever in the back line, bullying the visiting strikers for much of the match.

Cesar Azpilicueta: 6

Contributed a fair amount going forward, whipping in a number of early crosses. But the Chelsea captain didn’t quite seem to be on the same wavelength as Hakim Ziyech, who played in front of him for 60 minutes.

N’Golo Kante: 8

Simply did what he does best, breaking up the play in midfield to stop any potential counter-attacks from the away side. Kante also showed his worth going forward, slipping in Christian Pulisic to score the Blues’ second after a brilliant driving run towards the penalty box.

Mateo Kovacic: 6

Played well alongside Kante in midfield, but didn’t offer a creative spark for his attacking teammates to feed off. Hobbled off in the 50th minute and went straight down the tunnel for treatment.

Marcos Alonso: 7

The best and worst of Alonso was on show. Going forward, he picked up the attacking positions we saw in his prime, on a couple of occasions drifting into the box unmarked to try and volley home a cross from the right side. But defensively, the Spaniard struggled to contain Renato Sanches, who looked Lille’s brightest attacker.

Hakim Ziyech: 6

Chelsea’s most in-form player struggled to get going. He did combine well with his attacking partners at the beginning of both halves, but faded for the most part after that. Ziyech was the second Chelsea player to hobble off with an injury, joining Kovacic in the treatment room.

Kai Havertz: 8

Started the match looking worth every penny of the £75m Chelsea paid for him two years ago. Should have tapped in from close range after four minutes, but made up for that miss with a brilliant header to give the hosts the lead. Faded out after a blistering start, but that was perhaps down to the lack of service.

Christian Pulisic: 8

Pulisic had one of his better performances of the season. The American was part of a fluid front three and stood out on occasion with strong running from deep, where he was often picking up the ball. He scored Chelsea’s second of the night, finishing comfortably past Leo Jardim after Kante played him in on the counter-attack.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek: 6

A welcome cameo in the second half, replacing the injured Kovacic in what is only his fifth appearance since the turn of the year. He played well in a deep role alongside Kante and managed to get his head up on a number of occasions to pick out a forward pass.

Saul Niguez: 5

It was another quiet night for Saul. He took up a central position after replacing Ziyech, but did little to catch the eye or suggest to Tuchel that he should be in contention for a start against Liverpool on Sunday.

Timo Werner: 6

Came off the bench in the 80th minute to replace Pulisic when Tuchel turned to Werner to take advantage of Lille’s high line as they chased a late goal. Had the fans on their feet in the final few minutes as he was about to burst away on the counter-attack, only to be fouled before he could really get going.

Malang Sarr: 6

Helped see out a comfortable first-leg victory.