Chelsea began their Champions League campaign with a comfortable 6-0 victory over FK Qarabag. Below I give my ratings of the Chelsea team in the win.
Thibaut Courtois (6)– The Belgian goalkeeper had one of the easiest night. He made one save in the 40th minute. In the second half, he would have been better to pull up a chair as he was not required to do anything. For me, John Champion on BT’s commentary summed it up perfectly when he said: ” they might ask him to pay for his ticket.”
Davide Zappacosta (9)– What a debut for the Italian full-back a goal and an assist. He made a number of good forward runs in the first half. With half an hour on the clock, he scored the goal of the night, when he ran a good 50 yards and put what looked to be a cross into the top left-hand corner.
He then in the last ten minutes of the game got in down the right-hand side and played a ball across for a Qarabag defender to tap in to make it six.
Andreas Christensen (7)- The Danish defender swept across well to clear any danger when Qarabag got forward. He possesses a lot of pace and seems a talented young defender.
Gary Cahill (6)- On his first game back did not have much to do. He did make a rather brave challenge, considering it was his first game back from a red card, as he picked up a booking for the most well-timed tackle.
Cesar Azpilicueta (7)- The Spanish defender got forward as he usually does and was left unmarked to head home to make it 3-0 in the second half , but again he had very little to do defensively. Made way with just over 15 minutes to go for Antonio Rudiger
Marcos Alonso (7)- The Spanish full-back had a good game. He went forward on numerous occasions and a few effort which were either well saved or blocked.
N’Golo Kante (6)- Had a quiet evening in the centre of the park but that was largely due to the lack of attacking threat from Qarabag.
Cesc Fabregas (8)- The Spanish midfielder was again great. He showed his usual great vision to set up Azpilicueta and help play Chelsea in for other chances. For me, he was not marked tightly enough and was given far too much time to play the ball which made it a lot easier for him to pick out passes.
Willian (8)- An energetic performance from the Brazilian winger. He plays a lovely pass to set up Pedro in the fifth minute to open the scoring. He also linked well with Michy Batshuayi and Pedro and Fabregas to cause himself to be a right pain for the Qarabag defence. For me, he deserved a goal and went close when he hit the post with just over 20 minutes left of the game.
Michy Batshuayi (7)- The striker showed some good movement during the game and displayed some great hold-up skill to bring other Chelsea players in the game. With 15 minutes left he grabbed a deserved goal with a shot outside of the box to make it 5-0.
Pedro (7)- Great technique to open the scoring with a lovely curled finish five minutes in. This came after a very slow start where he lost the ball a few times.
Substitutes:
Eden Hazard (6)- Come on in the 60th minute at 3-0 up to get minutes under the belt and improve his fitness. He had a couple of nice touches and passes but did not do a lot other than that after replacing Pedro.
Tiémoué Bakayoko (7) – Came on with about 25 minutes left for Kante with the score at 3-0 and made an impact eight minutes after, scoring his first Chelsea goal in just his fourth appearance. He then set up Batshuayi to make it 5-0 to Chelsea, an impressive start from the midfielder.
Antonio Rudiger- Not enough to time on the pitch to give a rating as he only got about 15 minutes replacing Azpilicueta but did not have to do much.
