Champions League holder Chelsea traveled to Sweden to take on Malmo. The Blues earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the Eleda Stadion. Just like in the reverse fixture, Thomas Tuchel’s men eventually proved to be too much for the Swedish side, despite the host’s spirited efforts.
The west London club had the majority of the possession in the first half and conjured up 14 attempts on goal, but failed to open the scoring. Both Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech came close to scoring in the first half only to be closed down by Malmo goalkeeper, Johan Dahlin. The second half had the same feeling until the 55′ when Callum Hudson-Odoi produced a sublime assist for Ziyech to open the scoring. This proved enough to get all three points from a routine performance.
Here is how the players performed as individuals against Malmo:
Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 6.5/10
Another game goes by where Edouard Mendy didn’t have to make a save and got an easy clean sheet to his name. This match was not as easygoing compared to the last few games though. There were times when Malmo tried and attacked the Chelsea goal, even managing to get a few shots off. Some of those shots weren’t too far away, still nothing close enough to scare Mendy.
Andreas Christensen (Right centerback): 7.5/10
After scoring his first goal for Chelsea against Malmo last time out, Andreas Christensen looked hungry for goals on Tuesday. Playing on the right of the three-man defense, Christensen played a bit further forward, as he always does with teams playing in their own half. The Dane took two shots on goal and won three aerial duels. All in all, he looked comfortable per usual.
Thiago Silva (Centerback): 7/10
Throughout the game, the Brazilian veteran was not really troubled much by the Malmo attackers. Thiago Silva tried to play a bit more forward, taking a shot on goal and creating key passes and long balls forward. Silva’s passing was spot on from start to finish. The only blip for the former Paris Saint-Germain man was the yellow card in the second half.
Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 7/10
Antonio Rudiger played a very safe game, not that the German international had much to do defensively. There was not much-attacking threat from Malmo players, so Rudiger was majorly involved in making forward passes and keeping the game ticking. His two tackles during the opening few minutes sent a warning to the Malmo attackers.