Individual brilliance once again earns the Blues a massive victory, this time at Anfield. It was Olivier Giroud against Atletico Madrid and Mason Mount on Thursday night versus Liverpool. Aside from that, it was a great performance by the whole team both defensively and in the attacking phase. The Chelsea starting XI saw changes like it always has under Thomas Tuchel, but the players on the pitch did the job and got over the line regardless.
Everyone thought Timo Werner grabbed the lead in 24′, but the finest of margins ruled him offside. Three minutes from halftime the blues got their lead through Mount, who cut inside and finessed the ball into the bottom right corner. From there on it wasn’t pretty, but the three points are all that matters.
Enough about the team performance though, how did each individual perform against the defending champions:
Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 7/10
The Senegalese shot stopper didn’t have much to do throughout the game, but was calm and collected when he needed to be. The defense in front of him made his job easy and all he had to do was pick up the mess.
Antonio Rudiger (Centerback): 7/10
The defense was great and really limited Liverpool’s front three. Antonio Rudiger was good, but he wasn’t the best centerback on the pitch. That being said, it’s not that he did bad, but he had few mistakes that could of caused a goal.
Andreas Christensen (Centerback): 8/10
Andreas Christensen really took it upon himself to stamp his authority on the game. For me, he was the best of the three in defense and passed the ball with composure and didn’t lunge into bad tackles. He redeemed himself from his previous performance against the Reds and did it in style.
Cesar Azpilicueta (Centerback): 8/10
Ever since the captain has returned to the centerback position, the Blues haven’t looked like conceding. It really shows how much of an effect that leadership has on the performance of a side and today was no different, Cesar Azpilicueta really put in another great outing