Chelsea locked horns with West Ham United at the London Stadium earlier this evening hoping to pick up all three points in the London derby. Both sides fought tooth and nail in the first 45 minutes but struggled to break each other down. However, Timo Werner finally broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute when he scored from close range which meant that Thomas Tuchel’s men went into the half-time break 1-0 up on the scoreline.
The Hammers tried to come up with a response but failed to test Edouard Mendy enough times in the second half. Fabian Balbuena was sent off by the referee in the 81st minute to make life even more difficult for West Ham in the latter stages of the game. The contest finished 1-0 in favor of the Blues as they came away with maximum points from East London.
Let’s take a look at how each Chelsea player fared during the clash against the Hammers.
GK: Edouard Mendy – 6.5/10
The Blues keeper made a couple of solid saves to keep his team ahead and secured an easy clean sheet in the derby.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 7/10
Christensen was a rock at the back as he didn’t take any chances with his clearances. It was a solid display from him today.
CB: Thiago Silva – 7/10
He cleared his lines when needed and even made a good block to stop a goal-bound shot. Tuchel will be pleased with his performance during the game.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – 7.5/10
The German centre-back got stuck in with a few tackles and deserves credit for keeping West Ham’s Pablo Fornals quiet for most of the game. He also won plenty of headers in the air.
RM: Cesar Azpilicueta – 7/10
The Spaniard didn’t put a foot wrong in the game when defending inside his half. He also managed to create a couple of decent chances in the final third.
CM: N’Golo Kante – 7/10
Kante worked his socks off to offer adequate protection for his teammates at the back. He disrupted West Ham’s flow in the game and helped the Blues dominate the midfield battle during the 90 minutes.
CM: Jorginho – 7/10
He made two important clearances but didn’t offer too much in the West Ham half. However, Jorginho hardly gave away the ball and kept the opposition frustrated at the centre of the park.
LM: Ben Chilwell – 8.5/10
Chilwell set up Werner’s goal in the dying embers of the first half. He also created a couple of more chances for his teammates to score. Defensively, he was solid as well.
RAM: Mason Mount – 8/10
The English playmaker did his fair share of defending. He was also a constant threat in the final third as he caused all sorts of problems for the West Ham centre-backs. However, Mount will be disappointed for not getting his name on the scoresheet.
LAM: Christian Pulisic – 7/10
Pulisic orchestrated some meaningful openings for others around him and played an influential role in the lead-up to Werner’s goal. He ran out of gas and got replaced in the second half.
ST: Timo Werner – 7/10
The German striker was guilty of missing a lot of good chances but deserves a pat on the back for scoring the only goal of the game just before the half-time break.
Substitutes:
LAM: Hakim Ziyech – 6/10
He was not shy of having a shot at goal.
RM: Reece James – N/A
James did not get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
ST: Tammy Abraham – N/A
He did not have enough time to influence the game.
