FC Porto 0-2 Chelsea; Players Rating vs Porto

Chelsea had their one foot in the champion’s league semi-final after an impressive 2-0 away win against FC Porto in the quarter-final of the 1st leg. Despite Chelsea being 2nd best in the first half they managed to take lead at halftime after a brilliant goal from Mason Mount and in the 2nd half, Chelsea was the better side of the 2 teams as they could have scored more than 2 goals this match. Defensively Porto gave some issues for Chelsea yet still the goalkeeper and the defense dealt well with the Porto and attacking wise Chelsea had more clear-cut chances compare to FC Porto as the blues missed some big chances to add their goal tally in this match. At end of the day, Chelsea is the deserving winner of this match and they have a massive advantage in this 1st leg tie with a win and 2 away goals are very crucial for the team ahead of the 2nd leg home tie against the Portuguese side. Here is the players rating of the match and Chelsea line up at their 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 – he is the only goalkeeper who had a clean sheet in the 1st leg of all quarter-final matches. Whenever he Call upon into action he did well as he made a couple of good saves in the 1st half, and in the 2nd half, he made one crucial save from Moussa Marega when the match was still at 1-0.   Rating- 8/10 

CB- Azpilicueta – despite some shaky moments the captain was solid defensively and also he made a couple of crucial blocks during the match. His passing was poor on certain occasions but overall it’s a solid display from him.   Rating 7.5/10  

CB- Andreas Christensen – at the beginning of the match he was a bit wasteful with the position as his passing ability was not at his usual best but as the match went on he grew into the game and played in some nice passes to the forwards. Defensively he was rock solid again and he won everything aerially. It was another impressive display from Danish international in the center of the defense.  Rating 8/10 

CB- Ruediger- he was relatively solid as other center backs but he was exposed for one crucial situation where Moussa Marega runs past behind him easily but Mendy did well on that situation. Apart from that, he showed why he is the most important player for Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel.  Rating 8/10

RWB- Reece James- he is on his top form at this moment and he cannot be dropped after this. Defensively he was impressive especially he dealt well with Otavio and Jesus Corona in a 1 vs 1 situation as James' the majority gets better of them. He also had a match-high of 4 tackles to show how solid he was defensively and also when he goes forward he caused a lot of issues for Sanusi with his link-up with Mason Mount on the right side.  Rating 8/10

LWB- Ben Chilwell– people were asking the questions whether he can play at the wing-back role and do both defensive and attacking duties but Chilwell was answering the doubts about him with performance on the pitch. It was an impressive round display from him as defensively he was commanding and also he recovered Ruedigar well to help him defensively. He scored the crucial 2nd goal and it might an error from Jesus Corona that leads to the goal but Chilwell still had more to do after that as he showed his pace and power to run past the last defender and showed the composer to gone around the goalkeeper to score the goal. Jorginho might be the official man of the match and mount might be the majority of the fan's choice to be the man of the match, but my choice is Ben Chilwell.   Rating 8.5/10 Man of the match

CM- Jorginho- he was a bit sloppy and rusty at the beginning of the match but he grew into the game and did well since then. Especially the way he showed the calm and composer to find Mason Mount for the goal was superb from him and had deserved assist to his name so for that. In the 2nd half, he wins the ball in midfield and put in some good tackles as well. I criticized him heavily for the weekend but today he showed his class and he needs to consistent for the upcoming matches.    Rating 8/10 

CM- Mateo Kovacic- alongside Jorginho he controlled the midfield and so did a lot of defensive duties as well. He also created a couple of good opening and chances for the team with his dribbling skills and thriving forwards nearly had an assist to his name after he finds he puts through Pulisic which Pulisic’s effort was denied by the woodwork, overall another impressive display from Croatian International.  Rating-8/10 

RF- Mason Mount- Lampard's son? Southgate's son? Tuchel'a son? Nothing at all, Mason Mount is just a pure class and he had all the potential to be one of best the best in the world if he improves a few stuff here and there. What a turn it was from him and what a finish it was to score the 1st goal of the match. And he also put in some dangerous crosses as well and one which Werner should have done better. And also his link-up play with James on the right side causes a lot of issues for the Porto defense. He was a bit quiet in the 2nd half but overall another brilliant display from Chelsea’s player of the season so far. He will get the same rating as Chilwell get but the defender just edged him for the man of the match award.  Rating 8.5/10

LF- Kai Havertz – For the 1st 10 minutes he looks lively but he completely faded since then. His 1st touch and hold-up play was not at his best and despite the offside call he completely missed an open goal and he just gets away from this because of the offside call. It’s not a good day for him and his place in the starting 11 might be in trouble if he performs like this for upcoming matches. Rating 3.5/10 

ST- Timo Werner - the only time I recognized him playing was he missed a glorious chance to score from Mounts cross, apart from that he didn’t have any meaningful impact. His holdup play, the first touch was everything poor and he should check his line to stay onside as he had all pace in his locker but I don’t get why he doesn’t want to use it. Ahead of crucial fixtures, Tuchel has to play the players who are performing, and certainly, Werner might be not up there.   Rating 3/10 

 

Substitution

Christian Pulisic for Timo Werner - came on for the last 25 minutes he did better than Werner for sure. Dropped deep to help the build-up play and unlucky to not be on the score sheet after his effort was denied by the woodwork. His cameo was impressive and is knocking on the door to back in starting 11. -Rating of 7/10

Olivier Giroud for Kai Haverzt – came on for the last 25 minutes had a couple of good build-up play with Kovacic.- Rating 6/10

Ngolo Kante for Mason Mount –came on for the last 10 minutes and made a couple of good runs with the ball.  Rating 6/10

Thiago Silva for Reece James- came on for the last 10 minutes to defend the lead 1-0 lead. Had a couple of good passes, calm and composed with the ball. Rating: 6/10

Emerson for Kovacic- came on at injury time to just run down the clock. Rating; NONE

 

Manager

Thomas Tuchel- I was looking for a reaction after his 1st defeat as Chelsea manager on the weekend and he reacts very well. As usual, his tactics and game management were spots on but he needs to decide on Timo Werner's situation. Ahead of crucial fixtures, he needs to pick the players who have been performing and Werner didn’t perform at this moment. He should start to give Abraham to start for the next couple of games and give him the chance to show what he can do because Tammy Abraham is our leading goal scorer this season. I’m hoping that Tuchel will sort out the striker’s situation at this moment. But for today's match Tuchel does well and the players he picked up the majority of them performed well today as the team has to keep the momentum goes on for the upcoming matches.   Rating 9/10