In their first game since the international break Chelsea went on the road to Vitality Stadium to play against A.F.C. Bournemouth. The Blues managed to eke out a 1-0 win in a game where they were rather unimpressive. Robert Sanchez had his best performance in a Chelsea shirt with a clean sheet on the road, and seven saves, one of which was a penalty. But it was the contributions from Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku off the bench who catapulted this west London side to victory. Here are the player ratings from today’s match:
Robert Sanchez: 9/10
He’s only been at Chelsea for less than two seasons, but this game may have been Robert Sanchez’s best game. In the first half, he was under duress a lot, as CFC couldn’t get anything going offensively and the cherries took advantage of it. But around the 36th minute, Wesley Fofana had a terrible giveaway forcing the former Brighton keeper to commit a penalty on Evanilson. Luckily Sanchez made a great save on the penalty by Evanilson. Throughout the rest of the game, Sanchez made some key saves throughout the game, but that moment in particular stands out. His rating would have been higher but he only completed 35% of his long balls and 74% of his passes.
Axel Disasi (61’): 5.9/10
One of the only reasons Axel Disasi deserves a pass is that he was forced to play right back due to injuries from Reece James and Malo Gusto. But against Bournemouth, he wasn’t impactful, defensively or going forward. In the 17th minute, he stumbled trying to defend Justin Kluivert which almost led to a goal, that was right after he stumbled running back to try and stop a counterattack. He was taken out 61 minutes into the game for Tosin Adarabioyo, but with Disasi he just looked out of sorts the whole game.
Wesley Fofana: 6/10
Today was not a very good day for Wesley Fofana, if it wasn’t for Sanchez’s penalty save the former Leicester City man could have cost Chelsea the game. The French defender had some giveaways in this game that could have been costly. But as the game went on he got a little bit better on the ball, he had a good clearance in the 54th minute, he had six in the game. Fofana has a high ceiling, but he needs to show more to prove he is worthy of a £70m price tag.
Levi Colwill: 6.3/10
The England international was solid today, a little better than Fofana but still erratic. He won five duels but lost five duels, he is okay when he’s going forward but cannot make a precise pass that is needed to reach someone going forward. He committed a foul that led to a yellow card in the 56th minute but luckily the Cherries couldn’t take advantage of it.
Marc Cucurella: 6.7/10
This match may have been one of Marc Cucurella’s best games going forward, which is not his strong suit. But he made some runs into the box where he attempted a few crosses, his best was in the 66th minute when he gave a pass to Nicolas Jackson who was unable to do anything with it. One thing you love about the Spaniard is that he always works his socks off every time he plays.
Renato Veiga: 7/10
In his first EPL start of his young career, Renato Veiga imposed his will and got better as the game went on. Throughout most of the second half Veiga made good crisp passes, had a few interceptions, and won seven duels.
Moises Caicedo: 7.7/10
Wearing the armband today, Caicedo proved he was worthy of the captains armband putting in a very good performance. He won seven duels, won two tackles, and made seven passes into the final third.
Cole Palmer: 7.4/10
Despite playing the whole game, it was a quiet performance from Palmer in this one. He only had 50 touches, but was always positive when going forward trying to make things happen. Their were times where he would lose the ball but get it back right away. Luckily for Palmer, Chelsea were still able to win.
Pedro Neto (45’): 6.2/10
Neto only played the first half of the game, and didn’t really do anything. The Portuguese international barely touched the ball and when he did made nothing of it. His replacement Jadon Sancho played much better in this left-wing position.
Nicolas Jackson (79’): 6.3/10
On the heels of getting a nine-year contract extension, Jackson showed the signs that maybe the Blues made a bad investment. While Jackson like Cucurella always works very hard, when he gets the ball in the final third he lacks decisiveness. In the 28th and 34th minutes Jackson could’ve had two goals, but ended up with nothing. When he was taken off Christopher Nkunku scored a goal in the box that Jackson might’ve squandered.
Noni Madueke (62’): 6.9/10
Anytime Madueke gets the ball he is galloping up the field like a horse at the Kentucky Derby. He set up Jackson in the 28th minute and probably should've had an assist. The biggest problem with Madueke is that sometimes he has so much confidence in his abilities that he doesn't look for a pass enough.
Substitutions:
Jadon Sancho (46’): 8.3/10
Playing in his first match for Chelsea, Jadon Sancho looked like he belonged. He was a threat down the left wing almost every time he got the ball, and certainly made himself a prime candidate to be starting over Neto. His best contribution came when he delivered the assist in the 86th minute that led to the game-winner from Nkunku.
Tosin Adarabioyo (61’): 6.8/10
Another player making their EPL debut for Chelsea, Adarabioyo looked solid coming in for Disasi, nothing spectacular but did a good job of keeping the back line steady.
Joao Felix (62’): 5.9/10
Every time Felix comes into the game you don’t know what you are going to get. Today was a game where he dribbled a lot and never created any real chances. His small frame at times allows bigger defenders to outmuscle him which results in Felix losing the ball.
Christopher Nkunku (79’): 8.4/10
Nkunku didn’t do much in a limited amount of action but he did one big thing, score the game-winning goal in the 86th minute. Of a nice pass from Sancho, Nkunku got the ball and calmly put it in the back of the net.
Enzo Maresca 7.4/10
His team got the job done, and his team selection was fine. He waited too long to put Nkunku in and take Jackson out, but luckily his substitutions of Sancho and Nkunku resulted in Chelsea winning the match.