Olivier Giroud’s wonderful free-kick earned Chelsea a 2-2 draw against MOL Vidi and ensured they ended their Europa League group campaign unbeaten. Here’s how we rated each Blues player against the Hungarian side.
Fine positional play and anticipation made his one notable save seem far easier than it was. Unusually, there were no heart-stopping moments.
Generally quiet with the odd darting trademark overlap. Steady defensively but did not manage to contribute a great deal in attack.
A error-free performance which is exactly what was required given the fact the Dane has struggled for much of 2018. He kept things simple and was solid at the back alongside his even younger partner.
He could do nothing about his unfortunate own goal and was otherwise excellent. Ampadu played the dominant defensive role, playing out with the ball whenever possible but without taking risks.
Sharp and dangerous throughout, he proved that he offers a viable alternative to Marcos Alonso.
Had a decent first 45 minutes but like his midfield colleagues he faded somewhat as Vidi harried and hassled to greater effect.
Barkley had a particularly strong first half when he looked like a player at the peak of his confidence. He searched out possession, played at a decent tempo and got involved at both ends of the pitch.
An evening where things simply didn’t fall his way and his end product didn’t match his endeavour. Made countless smart runs, but rarely managed to break free in a congested midfield area.
He scored a quality free-kick, after he earned the set-piece, and constantly beat his marker to get to the byline. He often lacked numbers in the box to find.
As with Amapadu, he shows such composure for his age and came close to creating a goal on numerous occasions. Guilty of overplaying once or twice, but his balance, touch and dribbling ability stood out. A mouthwatering talent.
It seemed unlikely that Morata’s season could get any worse, but a worrying knee injury where he landed in ungainly fashion after twisting to get on the end of Hudson-Odoi’s cross meant he had to be replaced and could well be facing a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
He could easily have had a hat-trick after the break. Giroud missed a good chance to score at the near post from Emerson’s fizzed front-post cross and was then unfortunate not to ram home the equaliser on the volley. But then scored with an absolute cracker of a free-kick
Made an impressive impact after replacing Willian. He was just off-target with a mis-hit strike when he should have scored, but was always involved and threatening to create something.
This post was last modified on 14/12/2018