Two deflected goals saw Chelsea beaten in the Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal. Here’s how we rated the Blues players in the 2-1 loss at the Emirates Stadium.
Chelsea’s stand-in goalkeeper had little to do but made one brilliant second-half save to keep out Alex Iwobi’s strike and did what he had to with confidence.
A rare below-par performance from the Spaniard who did well enough defensively but gave the ball away with surprising regularity.
Christensen had another steadily impressive performance, using the ball effectively and defending with typical poise.
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Ultimately it was the German who made the telling contribution, with two dreadfully unfortunate deflections leading to Arsenal’s goals. But unlucky as he was, Rudiger never looked particularly composed in the face of Arsenal’s movement and intelligent running from deep.
Heavily involved going forward early on without ever really making an impact and was replaced soon after being booked in the final quarter of the match.
A typically robust display, Kante was as good as anyone in a Chelsea shirt, but with the Blues chasing the game he spent much of the latter stages closing down and chasing possession.
Bakayoko had one of his more impressive games, surging forward on numerous occasions and playing a huge part in Chelsea’s first-half dominance. With Arsenal on top after the interval, the Frenchman was less prominent.
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Always seemed capable of creating a goal but with Chelsea lacking a presence in the box for most of the game, Arsenal were too often able to force him wide and then backwards.
Had several threatening moments in the first half and played a fine pass through for Eden Hazard’s goal, but the Spaniard faded after the break and was taken off on 65 minutes.
Made an encouraging start and got into a couple of dangerous positions, notably when he dragged a shot wide. But his evening came to an early end when he had to come off because of what looked like a hamstring injury and Chelsea began to struggle thereafter.
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Hazard was Chelsea’s brightest attacking force once again and shone in the first half. But Chelsea’s goalscorer was more closely marked after the break and when he did wriggle free was normally brought down or crowded out before he could cause too much damage.
Debutant Barkley was unfortunate to be called on so early and showed some flashes of his undoubted talent, but understandably lacked sharpness and struggled to get up to speed. And his corners were woeful.
His main contribution was to give the ball away in his won half which led to Iwobi almost scoring. Batshuayi’s hold-up play was weak and it’s obvious why boss Antonio Conte has little faith in the Belgian striker’s ability to fit into the system.
Looked lively after coming on late on and won a couple of corners that were subsequently wasted.
This post was last modified on 25/01/2018
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