Chelsea traveled to the Etihad for the second leg of their Manchester City fixture, after losing the reverse fixture 0-2 at home. Everyone knew Man City was there for the taking, but the Blues had been equally shaky defensively, so it was always going to come down to quality—a quality that Pep Guardiola’s side has in abundance.
Chelsea started the game in the best possible way, scoring in the third minute after new signing Abdukodir Khusanov made a costly error by attempting to head the ball back to his goalkeeper. Unfortunately, the Blues soon showed they were just as prone to mistakes.
Conceding three unnecessary goals, the finishing quality between both sides was glaring. No one in Chelsea blue was stellar, but some performances were better than others. Here’s how The Pride of London rates the away side after that thumping.
Robert Sanchez: 4/10
Sanchez made several errors, some resulting in shots, others leading to goals. His role in the second goal would have had several Chelsea fans pulling out their hair. Being caught so badly out of position in that situation is unacceptable at this level.
Reece James: 5/10
James looked OK in the first few minutes, but he quickly trailed off. He didn’t offer much offensively and was unremarkable off the ball as well. It was a game to forget for the captain.
Trevoh Chalobah: 6/10
Chalobah had perhaps the toughest job on the pitch: containing Erling Haaland. A daunting task indeed, and he did his best. The issue is that there’s no way of handling Haaland with just one player. Chalobah did make a mistake for the third goal, though, leaving his position to try and help Levi Colwill, which exposed Chelsea as Man City took advantage of the open space.
Levi Colwill: 3/10
Colwill was poor on the night, consistently out of position and ending up with just one defensive action: a clearance. The Blues No. 6 contested only three duels, losing all but one. He missed a big chance too, but that wasn’t the primary issue.
Marc Cucurella: 5/10
Cucurella was more solid in tackles but suffered from the same positioning issues as the other defenders. He did create a clear-cut chance, but overall, he left much to be desired in his primary role.
Moises Caicedo: 4/10
The one thing Caicedo did well against City was recycling possession. However, he was horrendous defensively—there’s no hiding it. It was almost as though he could barely lay a glove on Man City's midfield.
Enzo Fernandez: 5/10
It seemed to be Enzo Fernandez who contested most of the defensive duels, though he lost the majority of them. Neither he nor Caicedo were effective in helping win the ball back for Maresca's side.
Noni Madueke: 7/10
Madueke scored Chelsea’s only goal, a chance that was statistically impossible to miss. He didn’t contribute much creatively or defensively, but he does deserve credit for his goal.
Cole Palmer: 5/10
Palmer was instrumental in distribution again, but he wasn’t effective in the final third.
Jadon Sancho: 4/10
Sancho once again offered little. He didn’t create anything, and his dribbling was subpar.
Nicolas Jackson: 7.5/10
Jackson was the standout player for Chelsea, though just barely. He caused problems for the Man City defenders and made the right decision for Chelsea’s goal, squaring the ball to Madueke, who was in a much better position to score, securing the lead.
Christopher Nkunku (61'): 6.5/10
Nkunku performed well when he came on for Jackson, winning 3/4 duels, though he couldn’t get a shot off.
Malo Gusto (73'): 6.5/10
Gusto seemed to be playing anywhere but right back. Still, he wasn’t effective, regardless of his positioning.
Pedro Neto (73'): 5/10
Nothing went Neto’s way, despite his attempts to deliver crosses.
Enzo Maresca: 3/10
Maresca's style of play—whatever that may be—is what got the Blues into this mess in the first place. The openness in midfield, the isolation of the back line, and the tendency for City players to run into an empty Chelsea half of the pitch. This loss is on him.