Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United: Player Ratings
Reuters/Matthew Childs
Manchester United finally managed to pry away a League double over Chelsea, a feat that has evaded them for over thirty years as they secured a 2-0 victory over Frank Lampard’s men at Stamford Bridge.
The electric fixture was riddled with talking points as Anthony Martial and Harry Maguire’s headers in each half sealed the win for the Red Devils even as Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud were denied goals by VAR for a build-up foul and an offside respectively.
Let us have a look at how men from both sides fared during the night.
Chelsea
Wilfredo Caballero – 5.2
Given the nod ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga yet again, the 38-year-old keeper was unable to do much in the face of the two decisive headers from United. Properly taking on Odion Ighalo in the dying minutes and denying the Red Devils a third goal was arguably his best impact during the fixture.
Reece James – 5.5
Not his usual self and could have been a lot better in feeding the counter-attack. Decent passing, however, and wasn’t shy to take shots on goal.
Andreas Christensen – 6.5
Even though the centre-back had to be withdrawn due to injury in the first-half, he still had the most tackles in the game with 3 to his name.
Antonio Rudiger – 6.2
Great passing to restart play and won a majority of his duels but was not adept during set-pieces.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 5.9
His usual animated self but in this fixture it may have cost him as the scuffles he engaged in during the downtime were arguably more intense than the ones he tried to indulge in during the fixture.
N’Golo Kante – 5.7
Picked up a knock in the opening 12 minutes itself and wasn’t able to make an impact.
Jorginho – 6.4
Was a quiet yet vital presence for much of the game, making a mark largely through his passing, the 81 he completed being the most of any player on the pitch, with an accuracy of 94%.
Mateo Kovacic – 7.2
Amongst the better players of the fixture, a constant dribbling maestro who attempted to engineer chances.
Willian – 7.2
Came closest to legally breaking the deadlock for the home side but could have been more offensively inclined given that the club didn’t have a shot on target for the vast majority of the game.
Michy Batshuayi – 5.7
A shade of the attacker that Tammy Abraham is and was behind the clinical toothlessness of the whole approach.
Pedro Rodriguez – 6.9
Constantly put himself out there and attracted fouls but had an all-round muted impact on the attack.
Substitutes
Mason Mount – 6.7
Was incredible and could have been a proper creative presence.
Kurt Zouma – 6.5
His goal was disallowed by VAR, while his defensive contributions were sub-par.
Olivier Giroud – 5.8
Brought a semblance of an attacking spirit to Lampard’s side but had his goal disallowed by VAR due to being in an offside position.
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Manchester United
David De Gea – 7.0
Solid showing from the Spaniard who will be happy with the cleansheet and especially pleased with the VAR.
Luke Shaw – 7.1
Placed in a back-three Shaw often got involved up-front and provided Solskjaer with the crucial extra man. Needs to work on it more, though.
Harry Maguire – 8.3
The goalscorer and probably a contender for Man of the Match given how composed he was throughout the fixture.
Eric Bailly – 7.5
United fans will be happy to see him back in action. Singlehandedly saved two would-be-goals by putting himself out there with incredible tackles and clearances.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7.8
His emotions got the better of him in the second-half but was crucial in creating offensive ploys.
Nemanja Matic – 6.9
Gave freedom to Fred and was the silent engineer throughout the game.
Fred – 8.0
Absolutely brilliant and was all over the pitch. Great link-up with Bruno Fernandes. Ought to be more disciplined.
Brandon Williams – 7.0
Good showing and an important one indicating that he can function alongside Shaw on that left flank.
Bruno Fernandes – 7.9
Assist to Maguire’s winner and a steady influence on the game. He created the most chances on the pitch and set the precedent for United being a threat from set-pieces again.
Daniel James – 6.2
Could have been a whole lot better and was often outmanned and overpowered up-front.
Anthony Martial – 7.0
Broke the deadlock and got back to scoring but needs to be more of a regular threat.
Substitutes
Andreas Pereira – 6.1
Stabilized the game and had a 100% pass success rate.
Odion Ighalo – 6.0
Even though Ighalo was brought on very late to make his United debut, he nearly scored with his first shot itself. A man to keep an eye out on.
Diogo Dalot – Brought on too late to have a proper impact on the game.
