Chelsea player ratings: Superb performance from superb players

RW, Hakim Ziyech, 8.5

Ziyech showed the fans what they’d been missing in his absence. Ziyech was trending on Twitter at half-time, for good reason. His long passing was excellent, completing five out of an attempted five. He made his signature whipped long balls to the far post more than twice, but his teammates did nothing substantial with it. He played right wing, but he was everywhere, getting in the face of the Russian opponents and making life difficult for them. He made two tackles and one interception, he also made one key passes. The ease with which he kept finding Azpilicueta on his overlapping runs had a stroke of effortless mastery that you only see in established passers. It says a lot that the fans were already impressed with the Moroccan’s full debut even before he scored. His goal put an end to an excellent performance.

LW, Callum Hudson-Odoi, 7.5

Hudson-Odoi played well. He didn’t seem to contribute much to the attack in terms of chance creation. He did what he was brought in to do though: cause problems for the opposition defenders with his dribbling and his tendency to stretch the play. His goal was more from a goalkeeping error than anything, but it did give his teammates the necessary motivation to push on and get more.

ST, Timo Werner, 8.5

Werner was the best attacker on the pitch for the blues. He completed 88 percent of his passes, making one key pass and one tackle. He won a penalty, which he scored because Jorginho was absent to take it. He was a thorn in the side of the opposition. He wasn’t as effective in chance creation as Chelsea would’ve wanted, but he took two shots and scored one, albeit a penalty. He assisted Hakim Ziyech, though the former Ajax man still had to do a considerable amount of work before he could get his shot off.