Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City; Players Rating vs Manchester City

Hello Wembley, we are coming again and see you at the final. Yes, Chelsea went through to the final of FA Cup of 2020/21 season as they beat Manchester City 1-0 at the Wembley Stadium. All the previews and predictions were favoring Manchester City and rightly so because they are the best team in England at the moment also one of the best teams in Europe as well. But Chelsea dominated Manchester City in today’s match which looks like a dangerous side between the 2 teams for the majority of the match and could have scored more than a goal. Defensively Chelsea was at their best as Manchester City’s attackers were kept quiet by the Chelsea defense for the most spell of the match. We all know how good City was when they go forward as they rarely failed to score in a match but when Chelsea had a win and clean sheet against them it shows that how good was Chelsea in the Semi-final and Chelsea are just 1 win away in the FA Cup from winning the first trophy under Thomas Tuchel era. Here is the player's rating of the match and there will so many players who will get a high rating today. 

 

Note;(GK-Goal Keeper, CB- Centre Back, LWB- Left Wing Back, RWB-Right Wing Back, CM- Centre Midfield, LF-Left Forward, RF-Right Forward ST-Striker, )

Formation:3-4-2-1

GK-Kepa Arrizabalaga – Surprise selection ahead of Mendy and justifies the manager's decision with a commanding display. His only real save at the 93rd minute of the match which was vital save as well and also his handling for crosses was decent as well Rating- 7/10 

CB- Azpilicueta – hit and miss first half as he losing the balls couple of times with some sloppy passes and his poor header almost gifted Manchester City a good opening but the 2nd half was the captain's performance as he dealt well with Sterling who didn’t have joy against him. Rating 8/10  

CB- Thiago Silva– when September arrived he will be 37 this year but does he looked like 37, nobody would say yes because he was an absolute warrior. Played the majority of the match with back pain which he had clashed with the opponents in the 1st half but he didn’t put a wrong in this match. Some of his stats were impressive as he had won 100% of his aerial duels, 100% of his tackles, and also he had 100% passing accuracy. He also had a match-high of 6 clearances which all showed how good he was against Manchester City. He is not the official and might be not a fans Man of the match but I’m choosing him as my man of the match.   Rating 9.5/10 

CB- Ruediger- Part of defense that kept City out of the game and he was immense today as he dealt well with Ferran Toress and Sterling when Phil Foden came on for City in the 2nd half. His pace and power was impressive as he put in some good tackles and interceptions and he put some good passing to forwards as well  Rating 8.5/10

RWB- Reece James- his only real dangerous contribution when he goes forward as he put in a good cross for Chilwell which LWB should have done better with that also creates some issues with his runs with the ball but James was superb in the defensive aspect of the game today. Sterling was struggled to take on him for the majority of the match and he also put in some good clearances when Chelsea defending their lead towards the end of the match.  Rating 7.5/10

LWB- Ben Chilwell – he is the favorite now to start in the LWB role regularly as he put in another impressive display. Chilwell should have scored in the 1st half after great cross James from the right but his attempt was going well wide of the post as he continues to look dangerous when he goes forward also create a great Chance for Ziyech which Ziyech should have done better with that. He also defends it well when he called upon especially his headed clearance prevent from Jesus having a good opportunity score after he put through by Rodri.  Rating 7.5/10

CM- Ngolo Kante- Had a Shaky start of the match as he loses the midfield battle but once he picks up his form you know what happens next since then City’s midfield was struggling to contain him. Whenever Manchester City was attacking Kante was there to stop their play and as usual, he was everywhere around the pitch. He also made some last-ditch tackles when City had some good openings but his distributions could have been better as he misplaced some of his passing, despite that it was another impressive display from not fully fit Ngolo Kante. Rating 8/10

CM- Jorginho- he controlled the midfield and tempo of the game with Kante and the most impressive thing was he did it against the high-intensity Manchester City. His composure when the City players pressed was calm it was the reason to play from the back and he also kept Kevin De Bruyne out of this match as Jorginho marked him very well. His passing and break play was also spot-on as he creates some good openings.    Rating-8.5/10 

RF- Hakim Ziyech- The match winner as he scored the only goal of the match with a good timing run inside the box, also could have scored another after 4 minutes but despite the keepers save Ziyech should have done better with his chance and also had a goal disallowed by offside. Link up well Reece James on the right side on a couple of occasions which creates some good attacking spell for Chelsea. Recently Ziyech scoring some big goals for Chelsea also his confidence is getting back to him after a fine display against Manchester City.   Rating 8.5/10

LF- Mason Mount- again another outstanding display from the current fans and managers favorites. His through ball for Werner was key for the opening goal of the match which he should be doing regularly and also his hold up plays with the ball was also creates some good openings for the team, battled with Fernandinho and Mount came out as the winner as he outplayed the Brazilian for the majority of the match. He also links up well with Chilwell on the left side and Juan Cancelo had some torrid time by facing them on his side.  Rating 8/10 

ST- Timo Werner -  not a good 1st half but also not a bad 1st half as well, he caught an offside couple of occasions which with the pace he got he should not be but the 2nd half was a different story. With Manchester City playing the Highline Werner starts to cause a lot of problems to their defense by running behind them and that’s where they caught for the goal as he set up Ziyech superbly for the only goal of the match. Also, he could have scored himself after he did all the good work to run with the ball but the finishing has let him down again. 12 assists and 10 goals so far for Chelsea but people calling him a flop, yes he missed a lot of sitters this season but he had contributed in a different way for Chelsea despite not scoring a lot of goals. Rating 8/10 

 

Substitution

Christian Pulisic for Mason Mount- came on for the last 24 minutes looks lively and scored in the dying minutes of the match but disallowed by inches of offside.-Rating 7/10

Kai Havertz for Timo Werner- Came on for the last 13 minutes and won some of his aerial battles against the City’s defense. Rating 6/10

Emerson For Hakim Ziyech – came on for the last 13 minutes to bring some physical presence to defend the lead. Rating 6/10

Kurt Zouma for Thiago Silva- replaced the injured Silva for the last 5 minutes but despite being on the field for short time he contributes to the team by putting in some good clearances which were crucial.   Rating 6/10

Manager

Thomas Tuchel- it’s not easy to beat Manchester City but Chelsea didn’t just beat them they dominated Manchester City and it's all down to his Game plan and tactics. By putting Werner in the team he exposed the City’s Highline and also creates a lot of issues for them. Whatever players he picks seemed they are doing the job for him and that’s good for the team and so for a manager. In just a short period, Tuchel leads Chelsea to the 1st final of his Era and could be more to come. The manager gets the full rating and this tactical genius deservedly so. Rating 10/10

 

Additional

It was an impressive performance from the manager and players, therefore, I don’t want to talk about this on the ratings because it would be unfair but I need to mention this. What Tuchel doing so far is everything going well, the decision he making, the players he picking up performing and I’m happy with Tuchel so far. But the way he treating Abraham is unfair as he didn’t even on the bench to face Manchester City. Abraham is still our leading goal scorer this season; he can only prove himself when he gets the chance to do so. I’m hoping that Tuchel will sort out his situation soon and hoping that Abraham will get his chance to prove himself.