Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings: Blues victorious in dress rehearsal

Chelsea met Manchester City in the Premier League three weeks before the two teams face each other in the UEFA Champions League final. In this dress rehearsal of the main event both the managers set their teams up to not give away any major tactical secrets. Pep Guardiola dropped Phil Foden to the bench and kept Kevin De Bruyne outside the squad. Thomas Tuchel, on the other hand, decided to give Mason Mount a rest.

Both the teams were cautious in their approach to the match, toying with each other but not really testing the goalkeepers for much of the first half. The breakthrough arrived just before half-time when Gabriel Jesus took advantage of a mistake by Andreas Christensen before playing a ball across the Chelsea box. Raheem Sterling – who was lucky to be on the pitch – scored after Sergio Aguero somehow missed his cue. Things went from bad to worse for Aguero, who missed a penalty two minutes later. The Argentine tried to pull a “Panenka” over Edouard Mendy, but the Senegalese stood in his spot much to his opponent’s embarrassment.

Chelsea came back much stronger in the second half and leveled the match three minutes past the hour. Hakim Ziyech fired in a fierce strike through Ederson in goal to bring back parity. The Blues were lucky to escape late punishment as the Citizens were denied what looked like a clear penalty. Remarkably, they then went ahead to win the match in exceptional circumstances, with Marcos Alonso grabbing a late winner.

Here’s how the players fared in the dress rehearsal:

Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 8/10

There wasn’t much Mendy could’ve done to stop Manchester City’s opening goal. The Senegalese custodian was left scrambling across his goal-line as Sterling scored into a near-empty net. However, just moments later, Mendy had his big moment of the match. The Chelsea goalkeeper stood his ground to stop a “Panenka” penalty from Aguero, much to the embarrassment of the latter, and the amusement of those watching around the globe.

Cesar Azpilicueta (Centerback): 7/10

Azpilicueta returned to the centerback position after playing on the wing in recent matches. He put in yet another solid performance, restricting the City attackers to low probability shots, either from range or from a tight angle. There was the constant risk of players exploiting the gap between him and James, but the Spaniard covered his part of the pitch well.

Andreas Christensen (Centerback): 6/10

It was his costly error just before the break which allowed Manchester City to score the opening goal of the match. Christensen misread a long ball and then mistimed his clearance, injuring himself in the process. Gabriel Jesus took full advantage of the situation as he latched onto the ball before playing it across the goal for one of his onrushing teammates to tap in. Sterling did, further adding to Christensen’s misery. He was subbed off immediately after the goal due to the injury.

Antonio Rudiger (Centerback): 6.5/10

Some of Manchester City’s most dangerous attacks came down the left side. The Citizens exploited the gap left behind by Alonso with balls over the top, and Rudiger didn’t exactly cover himself in glory defending the space. The German was partially at fault for City’s opener as he got dragged higher, leaving in yards of space behind him for Jesus to run into. Christensen paid the price for that error.

Kurt Zouma (Centerback/Sub): 6.5/10

Zouma came on to replace Christensen for the second half after the Dane picked up an injury during City’s opening goal. He had some nervy moments in the match and very nearly conceded the foul that would’ve resulted in the Citizens’ second spot-kick of the night. However, he did make one excellent block to stop Sterling from scoring his second goal of the match.