Michy Batshuayi’s injury-time goal earned Chelsea a dramatic and well-deserved win in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid. Here’s how we rated the Blues players in the 2-1 victory in the Spanish capital.
Courtois had very little to do for 40 minutes but made a couple of decent saves thereafter. Caught well, was commanding in his area and was excellent with the ball at his feet.
Was rested for the game at Stoke with the Champions League in mind and showed the decision was a smart one with a fine, no-nonsense performance. Cahill was calm and solid in defence and used the ball well.
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Restored to the side after his domestic ban for the reckless foul that earned him red card against Arsenal, Luiz started brightly before another reckless decision saw him concede a penalty for tugging Lucas’ shirt. He was otherwise excellent, almost setting up Alvaro Morata for a goal with an exquisite long pass, but his first-half indiscretion could have proved so costly.
Like Cahill, Azpilicueta defended with composure and conviction and so nearly found Morata with a superb second-half cross after a great interception and overlap.
A constant presence in attack, providing support and energy while still maintaining his shape to limit the chances of being caught on the break. Moses saw one rasping shot go wide and always looked likely to set up a goal.
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His endless running and ever-growing partnership with Tiemoue Bakayoko set the tone for an excellent display by Chelsea. Sensational.
See above. Bakayoko matched his French international colleague, allowing Kante to push forward, but his passing was not always as impressive and he was lucky to get away with a clumsy tackle on Fernando Torres in the penalty area.
Alonso defended with great awareness, but still got forward regularly. His late run and brilliant pass teed up the winner and was a fitting reward for a busy performance full of quality.
Fabregas got through a tremendous amount of running in a selfless display. But his passing was a bit more hit and miss than normal and his set-piece delivery was poor throughout. He was also guilty of a quite astonishing miss in the second half when he got his feet in a terrible mess and shot wide from six yards.
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The Belgian was given oodles of freedom and made the most of it, hitting the post with a splendid, albeit deflected, first-half strike and setting up the equaliser for Morata with a gem of a cross. An exceptional display on just his second start for the Blues this season.
Morata played with all the confidence of a man who had scored a hat-trick in his previous match and could easily have had another treble inside 30 minutes, twice shooting narrowly wide and having a powerful headed tipped over. His headed equaliser was superbly taken after a fine run into space and he almost scored soon after. His hold-up play was also impeccable.
Willian got away with one sloppy pass just outside his own box which could easily have led to a goal for Antoine Griezmann, but provided a threat when he replaced Hazard.
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Barely had a touch after coming but showed his predatory instincts with the winner.
This post was last modified on 28/09/2017
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U forgot Christensen...