English Champions Chelsea ruined Atletico Madrid’s very first night in their new stadium with a sensational 2-1 win. The Blues, despite starting the game on a bright note, trailed the home side from an Antoine Griezmann penalty. However, a second-half goal from Alvaro Morata bailed out Antonio Conte’s men in a riveting encounter against the Spanish giants and afterwards, substitute Michy Batshuyai scored the winner with virtually the last kick of the game.
Here’s the Chelsea player rated in their win over Atleti.
Thibaut Courtois (7/10): Didn’t really have much to do, just like his Atletico counterpart Jan Oblak. The Belgian failed to stop a confident penalty from Antoine Griezmann for Atletico’s opener.
Victor Moses (8/10): Was very active on the right-hand side, especially with his mazy runs through the Atletico defence. Though the Nigerian wasn’t as spiteful going forward, Moses created a lot of stir down the wings tonight.
Azpilicueta (8/10): Remained solid throughout the course of the game. The Spaniard showed terrific resilience to get the better of the opposing winger Yannick-Ferreira Carrasco. Easily the best centre back for Chelsea on the night.
David Luiz (7.5/10): Looked very good, especially with his dangerous long balls with pinpoint accuracy, before it came down to an awful pull of the shirt which cost a penalty for the visitors. It was really a needless thing to do and of course, a terrible goal to concede for the Blues.
Gary Cahill (7.5/10): Played an important role in the central defence. The English International led his side well against a fierce bunch of Atleti players. Made the second most number of tackles than any other Chelsea player on the field.
Marcos Alonso (8.5/10): Once again a stunning display from the Spaniard. It seems as if Marcos Alonso is growing with confidence day by day. Alonso was super active tonight, with his pin-point passing and terrific movements down the flank. Assisted the all-important winner of Michy Batshuayi in the final minute of the game.
N’Golo Kante (8/10): Was a complete midfield engine against Atletico, as you would normally expect from the French International. Kante also moved up the field on several occasions to feed some delicious forward balls to his teammates.
Tiemoue Bakayoko (7.5/10): He was an important cog in midfield tonight. The new signing linked up well with his teammates. His movements and clever passing helped Chelsea gain an advantage over Atleti in midfield.
Cesc Fabregas (7/10): Not as much impressive as he would have hoped in the first place but the former Barcelona player put in a decent shift nonetheless.
Alvaro Morata (9/10): Excellent throughout the game, Morata was a real menace for Diego Simeone’s side for the entire game. His tireless running, and neat first touches, combined with some great offensive movements often kept the defenders busy. He was rewarded for his efforts, by scoring the all-important equalizer right on the stroke of the hour mark.
Eden Hazard (9/10): Easily the best Chelsea player on the night, Hazard was incredibly influential in the first 20 minutes or so. And though his impression started to fade away in the second half, Hazard still managed to grab the assist for Morata’s goal in the second half.
Subs
Willian (NA): Replaced Eden Hazard with just minutes left on the clock. Willian brought some necessary freshness into the attack.
Michy Batshuayi (NA): Despite having just eight minutes or so to make an impact, Batshuayi relished the challenge and ended up scoring the winner late on the in the game. His goal will help Chelsea have a better grip over their Spanish rivals in their UCL group.
Andreas Christensen (NA): Came on for Cesc Fabregas to provide more defensive stability five minutes from time.
