Romelu Lukaku and Mateo Kovacic ruthlessly punish Aston Villa’s defensive mistakes as the European Cup holders claim the three points with a flattering 3-0 scoreline.
Villa impressed immensely in this game, particularly the first half, we played with a high tempo, good energy, excellent on the press and attacked with intent in a change of formation which allowed our players to excel, unfortunately, defensive mix-ups and poor finishing cost Villa this time, but the signs are positive moving forward!
Let’s see how the fans rated the boys in claret and blue, joining me today, Hannah Gowen, Gary Plaza, Jason Connolly and Tom Parker.
Formation 3-5-2
Jed Steer – 6
Jed will always hold a place in my heart for the role he played in our promotion, so it was nice to see him get a rare Premier League start, despite how annoying it is to be without Emi Martinez.
Ultimately, it was one of those nights for him. He didn’t really do anything wrong, but ends up on the wrong side of a 3-0. The life of a goalkeeper… (Tom)
Matty Cash – 6.5
A fantastic start from Cash. Showed his and Villa’s intent from the start by chasing down Alonso winning the throw-in and clattering the Chelsea man in the process. Got forward well and allowed the team to press and defend together.
Got forward into some great crossing positions only for his final ball to be poor. Decent performance all round against one of the leagues best teams. (Gary)
Ezri Konsa – 6
Shook off the knee injury that forced him off in the last game with Brentford to take up the right side of three centre backs as Dean Smith shifted formation. Had little to do defensively in the first half apart from – somewhat fortuitously – turning a goal-bound Hudson Odoi ball onto the crossbar.
Konsa was heavily involved in the Chelsea box throughout the game and saw a header sail wide, another go straight into Mendy’s arms and a deflected pot shot saved well by the Chelsea goalkeeper. Could only watch as Lukaku crashed home his second of the game in injury time. (Jason)
Axel Tuanzebe – 6.5
Poor start from Axel losing his head and jumping in rather than standing up against Lukaku. Unfortunately, the £100m striker showed why Chelsea paid so much for him. Composed from then on in what can only be described as a great first half!
Continued the second half the way he ended the first. Looked composed although not a 100% match fit for me. (Gary)
Tyrone Mings – 4
Despite some physically strong and even attack-minded play for Mings throughout the 90 mins, a dreadful mistake for the second goal ultimately sealed the deal for Chelsea.
Got caught out again for the third goal and was booked. (Hannah)
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Matt Targett – 6
One of those displays where it’s hard to rate a player, purely because I barely noticed him. Do I mark him up for just quietly getting about his business, or down for being anonymous?
I was going to sit firmly on the fence and score him five out of ten, but then he told the ref to ‘f*** off’, which earned him an extra point in my book. Am I allowed to do that? Too late, already did. (Tom)
Douglas Luiz – 6
The Brazilian started as the deepest of a midfield three and was in the thick of it early on as he blocked an effort from Rudiger before seeing a shot from outside the box deflected wide. Had a fair amount of space in middle in the opening period and had a decent opportunity to test Mendy from a Watkins lay off but blazed his effort over the bar from outside the box.
Perhaps could have closed Kovacic down a bit quicker in the lead up to Lukaku’s opener as the Croatian clipped the ball through to the big Belgian who finished clinically. Luiz had a lot less time and space in the second half following the introduction of Jorginho and was replaced by Nakamba with 11 minutes to go. (Jason)
Jacob Ramsey – 7
Ramsey was confident and determined on the ball today. He appears to be growing into this side with each game and is slowly making his mark on the midfield.
Unfortunately got booked and was subbed off early in the second half, but had a good showing and staked his claim to start for the foreseeable. (Hannah)
John McGinn – 8
I love John McGinn, and that sort of performance is the reason why. Tenacious, committed and repeatedly won the ball before instantly transitioning into attack – most notably to create the chance for Watkins that was brilliantly blocked by Silva.
He looks leaner and fitter this season. Let’s hope he maintains this form. (Tom)
Ollie Watkins – 5
In a game where there were chances aplenty but no cutting edge, Watkins struggled to make an impact. He was keen and good in hold-up play, causing some trouble for the Chelsea defence and Mendy particularly in the first half.
First game back from injury so clearly needs some match sharpness, but remained visible and energetic alongside Ings. (Hannah)
Danny Ings – 6
For me, he was a little off in the opening 20 minutes of the half, seemed to lack the intensity to the press that the team has produced. Had a chance to put Watkins through but over hit the pass.
Grew into the game more and looked a constant nightmare to the Chelsea defence.
Faded in the second half and was replaced by Traore. (Gary)
Substitutions:
Bailey (on for Ramsey, 55 mins) 6.5
OH BAILEY! OH BAILEY!
Brief cameo from Bailey but he showed he’s got a bag of tricks when the ball is at this feet! (Ryan)
Traore (on for Ings, 68 mins) 5
Returned to Stamford Bridge but the game had got away from us for him to make an impact. (Ryan)
Nakamba (on for Douglas Luiz, 79 mins) N/A
Subs not used: Sinisalo, Sanson, Young, El Ghazi, Hause, Archer.
GOALS
Chelsea:
Lukaku (15’, 90+3’)
Kovacic (49’)
OPPOSITION
Chelsea (3-4-3)
Mendy; Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Chalobah; Hudson-Odoi (Werner, 82’), Saul (Jorginho, 45’), Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Lukaku, Havertz (Azpilicueta, 63’)
Subs not used: Kepa, Christensen, Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, Mount, Chilwell.
THE BOSS
TABLE
UP NEXT
EVERTON (H) 18th September 2021
See you at Villa Park! Ryan
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West Ham United 1-1 Aston Villa
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5 Responses
Traore was used as a sub, you have him listed as an unused sub. Also, you did not mark Nakamba out of ten, just wondered why? He actually didn’t put a foot wrong when he came on and we looked a better team with him on the pitch, compared to Luiz. Love the website, keep up the good work, thanks! 👍
Hi Martin, thanks for pointing that out, I’ve now rectified it. Felt it was unfair to rate Nakamba when he’d only been on the pitch for a short while. Glad you’re enjoying the site. If you ever fancy a couple of players on this feature then please join in. UTV
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