Chelsea played a poor match against Everton, losing 1-0 on the day, but how does each individual performance rate on a scale from 1-10?
In a feisty clash at Goodison Park, Chelsea finally surrendered its 17-game unbeaten run to Carlo Ancelotti’s resilient Toffees. Buoyed by the return of supporters for the first time since March, Everton put on an excellent display—which was reminiscent of its form in the first few weeks of the season—to hand Chelsea its second loss this term. Like the first, Saturday night’s loss also came against opponents from Merseyside.
After giving the Champions League group stage finale off to most of his first-team members, Frank Lampard would certainly have been disappointed at the lack of the level of intensity which we have gotten used to seeing from his men in recent weeks. In a generally frustrating day for the Blues, who missed the chance to go top temporarily, some players can hold their heads up higher than others.
Here is how each player performed in the defeat:
Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 5
Edouard Mendy had arguably his worst outing in a Chelsea shirt so far. An uncharacteristic rush of blood, which resulted in him bringing Dominic Calvert-Lewin down inside the penalty area, ultimately settled the game. Barring that, he was solid as usual as he made good saves throughout the course of the game to keep the Blues in it.
Reece James (Right back): 7.5
On a night of so many underwhelming performances, Reece James was Chelsea’s brightest spark once again. James coped very well with the threat of Richarlison and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself after two excellent saves from Jordan Pickford thwarted his free kick attempt and a fierce drive from inside the box. The young fullback is developing into one of Chelsea’s most consistent performers.
Kurt Zouma (Centerback): 7
Like James, Kurt Zouma was also a silver lining in Saturday night’s defeat. He created the most chances of any Chelsea player on the night and went close to scoring with a left-foot swivel from Olivier Giroud’s flick. As usual, he was a dominating figure aerially, winning seven of his 10 duels in the air.
Thiago Silva (Centerback): 6
Thiago Silva was slightly culpable as he unsuccessfully attempted to shield Calvert-Lewin from Mendy in the build-up to the penalty which cost Chelsea the game. The veteran defender was put to the test by Everton’s pacy front line, but he came up with answers more often than not. Nonetheless, it was a performance not quite at the level we have come to expect.
Ben Chilwell (Left back): 5.5
Ben Chilwell and Alex Iwobi served up a fascinating duel on the left side of the pitch late Saturday. Although, to be fair, the Nigerian winger had the better of the tussle. The ex-Leicester man had his blushes spared by VAR after clumsily bringing down Calvert-Lewin in the box and was uncharacteristically ineffective going forward.