Chelsea were beaten on penalties by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. Here’s how we rated each Blues player at Wembley.
After his extraordinary refusal to come off, the keeper should have saved Sergio Aguero’s penalty in the shootout. Was well protected by his defence during the game.
Torn to shreds by Raheem Sterling during the recent 6-0 humiliation at City, the usually dependable Azpilicueta looked much more like himself this time. He was solid defensively and the highlight of his performance was a superb saving challenge to deny Aguero.
Aside from a couple of dodgy moments and a daft challenge on Bernado Silva, Luiz had a very decent game at the heart of the Chelsea defence.
Also impressive, Rudiger won countless challenges and intervened with several interceptions to keep City at bay.
In for Marcos Alonso, who was dreadful in the 6-0 loss, Emerson fared far better as City got much less joy in wide areas this time. He was a threat going forward too, setting up a chance for Eden Hazard with a superb pass.
The much-maligned midfielder showed the useful side to his game, frustrating City and helping Chelsea stay solid in the centre of the pitch.
Missed a great chance when he blasted over after being set up by Hazard, but Kante’s overall performance was outstanding. He was relentless, covering a ridiculous amount of ground and starring at both ends of the field. Brilliant.
Out of form of late but this was much better. Barkley did well in midfield before – as usual – being taken off, albeit with just a couple of minutes remaining this time.
Worked tirelessly up and down the flank, playing a major role in making sure there was no repeat of City’s thrashing of the Blues, while also getting forward to support Hazard.
Worked hard wide out too but faded before going off in the second half.
Again asked to lead the attack, Hazard justified the decision with grit and determination off the ball when needed to help keep Chelsea in the game until a second-half spell when they had City wobbling and Hazard caused Vincent Kompany also sorts of problems – not least when he sped away from him to create the chance for Kante.
This post was last modified on 25/02/2019