Chelsea cruised to victory in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against Dynamo Kiev. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Practically a spectator, the Spaniard had as easy a night as it is possible to have until a late flap at a cross almost led to a crucial away goal for Kiev.
He got forward on countless occasions but almost always failed to find a decent final ball. He needs better quality in attacking areas if he is to stand any chance of breaking into the side.
Had a couple of nervy moments in the first period, with one sloppy pass in particular putting the team in deep danger. But the Dane looked steadier and increasingly settled after the interval, and played a strong part in keeping a clean sheet in the face of a strong finish by the visitors.
Sensational with the ball at his feet, pinging passes for fun in the first half and instigating many an attack with his incisive distribution. His defensive work was also without fault.
Quiet but without fault, Alonso kept things simple and got forward well at times, notably when his goal-bound first-half strike was deflected wide and he flashed another shot just past the post in the second half.
An unselfish performance from the Italy international, who played within himself and was quick to recognise the best role he could play in a dominant side was to find the more attacking players as soon as feasible and let them pose problems.
Sharp, impressive and intelligent in possession with delightful one-touch passing keeping the tempo high and ensuring Chelsea got on top so quickly. But he looked less comfortable when he played deeper following the substitution of Jorginho.
Barkley made several dangerous runs and could easily have scored from one such surge before the break. He showed some great touches in the final work and looked confident and composed in his defensive work.
Redeemed himself for a poor first half, when his set-piece delivery was dreadful, by scoring a magnificent free-kick to make it 2-0. The pace and running ability is always impressive and likely to lead to a goal but a careless final ball often lets him down and frustrates the crowd.
A fantastic performance by Pedro, the best player on the pitch. Kiev couldn’t cope with either his pace or his clever running. He took his first goal brilliantly, improvising with an early strike and could easily have finished with five goals, with only one of those chances being a poor attempt on his part.
Typically bright and alert with his hold-up play and vital in creating space for Pedro and others to make runs. His wonderful, trademark flick was perfect for the opening goal for Pedro.
The England midfielder made an instant impact, winning the free-kick that Willian scored from. A firm crowd favourite, he almost capped a fine 30 minutes by scoring after a powerful run and classy one-two with Pedro and then laid on the third goal in style.
He didn’t get long to show his ability but still did so with a beautifully taken goal. He made a clever run inside to make the pass easy for Loftus-Cheek and finished in style.
Sent on along with Loftus-Cheek when Chelsea were beginning to struggle slightly during an uncertain second-half spell. Brought much more assurance to the midfield, where he kept things ticking over nicely.
Click here to subscribe to West London Sport’s YouTube channel
This post was last modified on 08/03/2019
View Comments
Where’s N’Golo??? No comment for him???
Where’s N’Golo???