Chelsea player ratings: Jorginho, Willian and two Lamps’ engineer win
By Hugo Amaya
Cesar Azpilicueta, Right wing back / Left back: 8.5
The Chelsea skipper played just about every position a defender could play. First as right wing back, then as left back, and towards the end of the game almost as another center back.
Azpilicueta failed to provide any threat in the attack, so much so that the Arsenal defense left him completely open most of the time. Azpilicueta hit the first man with nearly every attempted cross.
But when it came to defending, the always reliable Chelsea captain hardly put a foot wrong. He tracked back when he had to, made tackles all over the place, recovered the ball and had good interplay with the rest of the team. A good performance by one of the few who doesn’t let the team down too often,
Mateo Kovacic, Midfield: 7.5
A good shift by the man who has impressed everyone this season. He did what he does best: retained possession of the ball, provided accurate passes, opened the field for the play to continue and maintain forward thinking. He surely was only substituted because the team needed to win in a hurry, not just keep the ball.
Kovacic was very smart and patient, and was often the link that allowed Chelsea to move forward, rather than just pass back to the defense.
Isco only good enough to damage Chelsea's squad balance. light. More
N’Golo Kante, Midfield: 8.5
He got some criticism, but he bossed the Arsenal midfield once formation changed. Kante was, well, Kante the entire game. Running up, down and side to side; recovering the ball; and supporting the defense when Arsenal decided they wanted to commit men forward.
Kante made many excellent tackles and stopped attacks that could have ended in Arsenal’s favor. As usual, his work was quiet but effective.
Emerson, Left wing back: 1.5
A terrible performance from the Italian. We understand that Lampard had no one else to play in the position, something that should have given Emerson the extra motivation to perform on a big day. But, he didn’t. In fact, Emerson did absolutely nothing throughout the game. Every ball turned into a dead play.
He never supported the attack and completely failed in defense. He allowed the goal to go in by pulling a David Luiz and not fully tracking his man inside the box. Frank Lampard made the right decision my taking him out so early in the game.