Chelsea entertained West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge earlier this afternoon hoping to pick up a positive result at home. The Blues made a bright start to the game and took the lead in the 27th minute. However, Thiago Silva let his teammates down after he picked up two yellow cards in quick succession which made life difficult for the West London outfit. Sam Allardyce’s men capitalized on their numerical advantage and scored twice in the first-half stoppage time courtesy of a brace from Matheus Pereira which gave West Brom a narrow lead at half-time.
Callum Robinson put daylight between the two sides when he found the back of the net for the Baggies in the 63rd minute before Mbaye Diagne made the points secure just five minutes later by adding another goal. Chelsea got a goal back via Mason Mount in the 71st minute but Robinson struck again in injury-time as Thomas Tuchel’s players suffered a disappointing 5-2 loss at the English capital.
Let’s take a look at how each Chelsea player performed during the clash against the Baggies.
GK: Edouard Mendy – 5/10
Mendy made a couple of saves but ended up shipping in five goals today. A day to forget for the Senegalese keeper.
CB: Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10
The Spanish full-back made two important interceptions for his side. He also passed the ball relatively well and created a couple of promising chances going forward.
CB: Thiago Silva – 3/10
Silva lacked sharpness and was guilty of making some reckless challenges which saw him get sent off midway through the first half.
CB: Kurt Zouma – 5.5/10
The French defender was strong in the air and cleared the danger when required. Still, it was a far from convincing performance from him today.
RM: Reece James – 7.5/10
The English wing-back was probably Chelsea’s best player on the pitch. James didn’t do too much wrong defensively and made several inviting opportunities for his teammates to score. He also had a couple of shot attempts and pulled off some dangerous dribbles as well during the game.
CM: Jorginho – 5/10
The Italian midfield ace kept the ball moving without creating too many clear-cut chances for others around him. He struggled to get a foothold in midfield and got replaced in the second half.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 6.5/10
Kovacic got stuck in with some crunching tackles and made quite a few encouraging runs from midfield. However, he gave away the ball a few times and could have offered a bit more in the Baggies half.
LM: Marcos Alonso – 6/10
The Spaniard was unfortunate to hit the crossbar with his free-kick but would be happy that Pulisic followed the ball and scored from the rebound to give Chelsea the lead. He hit the woodwork again in the second half and also played a crucial role in his team’s second goal but didn’t offer enough protection for his teammates at the back.
RAM: Hakim Ziyech – 5/10
Ziyech struggled to get into the game and was sacrificed after Thiago Silva received a red card.
LAM: Christian Pulisic – 7/10
He did well to give the Blues the lead in the first half but got replaced at half-time.
ST: Timo Werner – 6/10
The German speedster picked up an assist for setting up Mount’s goal in the second half. However, he never looked like he had a goal in him.
Substitutes:
CB: Andreas Christensen – 6/10
Christensen dealt with the threat a few times but ended up conceding five goals after coming off the bench midway through the first half.
CAM: Mason Mount – 7/10
He was a constant menace for the West Brom defenders and got his deserved goal in the 71st minute.
CAM: Kai Havertz – 6/10
Havertz had a couple of bright moments but didn’t do enough to get himself a goal.
