Chelsea locked horns with Barnsley at the Oakwell Stadium earlier tonight hoping to win and secure progression into the next round of the FA Cup. The Blues enjoyed more of the ball in the first 45 minutes but were toothless in the final third as they went into the half-time break with a goalless scoreline.
Tammy Abraham finally broke the deadlock for the West London outfit in the 64th minute which was enough to give Thomas Tuchel’s men a narrow 1-0 victory away at South Yorkshire.
Let’s take a look at how each Chelsea player performed during the match against Barnsley.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 7.5/10
The Spanish keeper made a few solid saves during the game and was relatively tidy with his ball-distribution. He will be quite happy with the clean sheet tonight.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 7/10
Christensen lasted only 45 minutes but made some important contributions in defence to help Chelsea get to the half-time interval all level on the scoreline.
CB: Kurt Zouma – 8/10
The French centre-back was a rock at the back and dealt with mostly everything that the opponent threw at him during the 90 minutes.
CB: Emerson – 7/10
Emerson maintained a good shape inside his half and did enough to restrict the Barnsley attackers from scoring tonight.
LM: Marcos Alonso – 7/10
The Spaniard had to do a lot of defending in the first half but stood up to the test quite well. He was replaced at half-time.
CM: Billy Gilmour – 6.5/10
Gilmour worked hard to help his teammates out at the back but struggled to influence the game in the final third.
CM: N’Golo Kante – 7/10
The French talent made a few energetic sprints from midfield and got stuck in with some crucial tackles to disrupt the home side’s rhythm on the counter.
RM: Callum Hudson-Odoi – 7.5/10
He was full of energy and running down the right flank and did his fair share of defending when needed.
LW: Christian Pulisic – 6/10
Pulisic had a couple of bright moments in the game but didn’t look like he had a goal in him.
ST: Tammy Abraham – 8.5/10
The Chelsea centre-forward scored the only goal of the game in the 64th minute which was enough to give his team the win. He also pulled off a few dangerous dribbles in the final third and was a real handful for the Barnsley defenders in the air.
RW: Hakim Ziyech – 6/10
Ziyech was quite wasteful with the ball but deserves credit for creating a couple of decent openings in the attacking third.
Substitutes:
LM: Reece James – 7.5/10
James came off the bench to set-up Abraham’s winning goal in the second half.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – 6.5/10
The German defensive ace cleared his lines when required and managed to earn a clean sheet for his efforts.
RW: Faustino Anjorin – 6/10
He did enough to see out the victory.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 6/10
Kovacic added some energy to the Chelsea midfield.
