Crystal Palace 1-4 Chelsea; players rating vs Crystal Palace

Chelsea is back to winning ways in the premier league and what a way it was as they produced a dominant attacking display in the 4-1 away win against Crystal Palace. The 1st 45 minutes of the game was probably the best half of football Chelsea have played in the whole season as they took a 3-0 lead by the 30th minute and by the end of halftime Chelsea could have scored about 5 or 6 goals. Then in the 2nd half, Chelsea took off the gas for the start of the 2nd half and after Crystal Palace pulled a goal back the blues start to dominate the match again as they scored the 4th goal of the match after then. It was a fully deserves the win and they could have scored more than 4 goals in this match and here is the players rating of the match as Chelsea line-up at their usual 3 at the back system.  

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, )

GK- Edouard Mendy – for the whole match he could have a chair to sit and have a cup of tea in front of his goal post because he has nothing to do as Chelsea were so dominant in the attack. He could not do anything about the Bentake goal in the 2nd half. Rating- 5/10 

CB- Azpilicueta- nothing to do defensively for the majority of the match and he pushed high up a couple of times to overload on the right side. He also dealt well with Zaha on a few 1 on 1 occasion but he could have done better for the Crystal Palace as instead of defending against Schlupp he decides to go to his position which allows Schlupp have the freedom the cross the ball inside the box, but overall another consistent performance from him.    Rating 7/10  

CB- Kurt Zouma –he was more comfortable on the center of the 3 defense rather than the left and right sides. Defensively he was solid and won the majority of the aerial battle with Christian Bentake. Scored the 3rd goal of the match with a header and also it was his 5th goal of this campaign as he is the current leader scoring defender in the Premier League.  Rating 8/10 

CB- Ruediger- again he was commanding and solid on his left side and also played a couple of good passes to his teammates. He could have nearly scored from the corner as his header was cleared off the line by Van Aanholt.   Rating 7.5/10

RWB- Hudson Odoi-   Back in the team and back to the wing-back role as he was one of the main attacking threats for Chelsea in 1st half. Assisted Havertz for the 1st goal and it was a nice awareness to find him inside the box. Also, he creates a couple of good opportunities for his teammates but his decision-making and end products could have been better on certain occasions. He was a bit quiet in the 2nd half compared to the 1st half but he continued being a threat on the right side whenever he had the ball to run at the Crystal Palace defense.     Rating 8/10

LWB-Ben Chilwell– continuing his recent runs of good form in this match as he put in some good crosses inside the box. he was involved in the 2nd goal of the match as he put through Havertz free inside the box and could have scored in the start of 2nd half and that poor attempt went far from the goal after he did all the good work. For the same situation his decision-making could have been better which after he did well to stay on his feet he could have to find Mount or Hudson Odoi with the pass but he decided to go by himself. Also, Bentake won his header against him for the goal but Chilwell couldn’t do anything about that goal because of his height.   Rating 7.5/10

CM- Jorginho- last week it was his worse performance and now this was probably one of his best performances for Chelsea on his collection. This was probably the new Jorginho which I saw, he was the speed with his passing, and also he attempted a lot of forwarding passes and crosses which lead to good openings for Chelsea. And also for the defensive aspect of the game, he was put in some quick tackles and winning the balls from the opponents. Subbed off a bit earlier to rest him for the midweek if he stayed on the pitch for longer he could have been the man of the match because he was that good yesterday.     Rating 8/10

CM- Kovacic- the Crystal Palace midfielders were having a torrid time with him and his one-touch play with Jorginho as they couldn’t cope with him. The way he finding Hudson Odoi with the switch of play was like having Fabregas on the field and also his thriving runs to forward caused a lot of issues for the Crystal Palace defense. He also had some shaky moments in which he loses the ball in dangerous places even without any pressure but overall it was another impressive display from him. Rating-7.5/10 

RF- Mason Mount- he is continuing to impress the manager and the fans with another fine display. His crossing from set-pieces was outstanding today as he assisted the 3rd goal from the free-kick and also he could have another couple of assists as well in this match. Van Aanholt was torn apart on the left side by Mount and Hudson Odoi as the doubling up him on numerous occasions and also the way Mount link up with Havertz and Hudson Odoi was a joy to watch as well. He also could have scored himself as his attempt was well saved by Vicente Guaita in the 1st half.   Rating 8.5/10

LF- Christian Pulisic-  on paper it looks like he plays on the left side of the front 3 but on-field the majority played like a 2nd striker alongside Havertz and what a Performance was from him today. Scored a couple of goals as he was at the right place and the right time to finish it off especially the way he finished the 1st goal was emphatic from him. Not just his goals, his movement and runs caused all kinds of problems for the Crystal Palace defense. Last week I mentioned that he was knocking on the door for the startling 11 and with 3 Premier League goals in his last 2 matches he deserved to in startling line up he deserved to the man of the match as well.  Rating 9/10 Man of the match   

ST- Kai Havertz -   Tuchel puts in a lot of faith in him despite his midweek’s poor display and Havertz didn’t disappoint the manager today as he produced a professional No 9 display. scored the 1st goal of the match with a nice finish which he did well to wins the ball back from Eze on the edge of the box also he assisted Pulisic for the 2nd goal with a nice pass. Havertz also did a lot of hard work without the ball with his high-intensity pressings. He also could have scored a hattrick in this match especially he nearly scored the goal of season contender which he did a magical flick and shoot from Jorginhos cross which was well saved by Vicente Guaita in the 1st half. His hattrick was also denied by his poor weak foot finishing as well which he needs to improve soon but Havertz deserved to gets the same rating as Pulisic but The American International just Edges The German International for the Man of the match.  Rating 9/10 

Substitution

Ngolo Kante for Jorginho– came on for the last 30 minutes and he reacts a bit late to the Schlupp run which leads to the goal but apart from it was nice to see him get some minutes under his belt as he backs from his recent injury setback.  Rating 5.5/10

Reece James for Hudson Odoi - Came on for the last 20 minutes make a good impression as he crosses which deflected off Cahill and lead to the final goal of the match. Caused few issues with his runs and crossings as well.- Rating 6.5/10

Hakim Ziyech for Kovacic- came on for the last 10 minutes as he looks lively and hungry. He creates a good chance for Havertz after he puts him through and also he had a couple of good runs as well. Rating 6/10

 

Manager

Thomas Tuchel- in his recent press conference he said that for the next upcoming matches the main process is to start to score more goals and exactly there was progression on that. It was the first time that Chelsea has scored more than 2 goals under Thomas Tuchel and probably he might have his perfect front line for the remaining of the matches. The game plan and tactics were spots on especially there was more urgency and intensity with Chelsea today. The players he picked up also performed well today but the way of treating Abraham which is the one thing I’m not satisfied with Tuchel. At least he could come on to have some minutes on the pitch as he is our leading goal scorer for Chelsea this season. If the players get their chances then only they can show what they can do but Abraham didn’t get the chances like other players getting. I’m hoping that Tuchel will give Abraham some game time for the Upcoming matches and also with a win today it’s time to keep the momentum goes on ahead of 2 upcoming crucial fixtures against Porto in the Champions League quarter-final 2nd leg and FA Cup Semi-final showdown with Manchester City after that. Rating 8.5/10