Chelsea 1-0 Al Hilal player ratings: Romelu Lukaku’s goal the winner

N’Golo Kante (Central midfielder): 6/10

Kante was introduced at halftime after Jorginho failed to find his footing in the match. The Frenchman is in the same boat as Havertz lately as they both have struggled for minutes following injuries and bouts with COVID-19. His insertion into midfield was supposed to help Chelsea gain more control in the game while still chasing a second goal. It goes without saying, that second goal never came and the Blues actually lost control the longer the contest dragged on.

Truth be told, Kante didn’t cover himself in glory on the night. He performed his usual duty of running the length of the pitch to make recoveries at times but he looked flustered going forward. Kante did kick off a beautiful goalscoring chance with a moment of individual brilliance. However, he also contributed to a few of Al Hilal’s best chances toward the end of the bout.

Mason Mount (Right winger): 6/10

Mason Mount’s inclusion was more desperate than anything else. It would’ve been nice to keep the Englishman on the bench after he picked up a knock against Plymouth. However, Thomas Tuchel’s staff was seemingly out of ideas and when the team needs a goal, there is nobody better to bring on than Mount. Still, he looked relatively awkward on the right wing as he never really assumed the narrow role he usually does in a 3-4-3. He ventured around on the touchline where he was being given acres of space. It’ll be nice to hopefully have Mount back at 100 percent on Saturday when he can impact the game from the opening whistle.

Malang Sarr (Left wingback): N/A

Malang Sarr replaced Alonso for the final few minutes and he played quite well, all things considered. In the end though, he wasn’t on the pitch long enough to earn a proper rating.

Arno Michels (Manager): 6.5/10

It needs to be said that few—if any—of the decisions made throughout this game came from the mind of Arno Michels. Michels has simply just been the step-in manager for Tuchel while the German gaffer battles COVID-19. It seems relatively unfair to give him this poor of a rating. The reality of the situation is that I, as the author of this piece, have the benefit of hindsight.

Kante for Jorginho seemed like a decent idea at the time, it was just a disaster in practice. Michels then waited until the 72′ to try and fix things. His solution to dealing with an unstable midfield that was being pressed like there’s no tomorrow? Introducing Mount to play on the wing. The Sarr substitution could’ve also taken place a lot sooner too. Overall, the gameplan from the staff was shaky in the grand scheme of things and that began with the decision to revert to the 3-4-3. Let’s just hope Tuchel is back on the touchline on Saturday and the Blues do enough to lift the trophy.

What ratings would you give each player? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!