Chelsea faced off against Villarreal at Windsor Park earlier tonight as they looked to secure a win and lift the UEFA Super Cup. The Blues made a bright start to the game and took the lead in the 27th minute courtesy of Hakim Ziyech’s goal. The West London giants sat on their narrow advantage and went into the half-time break 1-0 up on the scoreline.
Thomas Tuchel’s men were a bit sloppy in the second 45 minutes which gave the Yellow Submarine a lot of encouragement to go on and score the equalizer. Gerard Moreno finally leveled the scoreline in the 73rd minute with a tidy finish from close range. The contest ended with a 1-1 scoreline after normal time.
Both sides canceled each other out in extra time as the match went to penalties. Chelsea ended up winning the shootout by a 6-5 margin.
Let’s take a look at how each Chelsea player performed during the clash against Villarreal.
GK: Edouard Mendy – 6.5/10
Mendy was woeful with his ball distribution at times but made some important saves to restrict the opposition to just one goal.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah – 7.5/10
He was strong in the air and was excellent with his passing. Chalobah even made several crucial interceptions and clearances during the game.
CB: Kurt Zouma – 6/10
The French defensive ace cleared his lines when required and was replaced after the hour mark.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – 7.5/10
The German centre-back won his fair share of aerial duels and managed to clear the danger quite a few times throughout the match. He scored his penalty in the shootout.
RM: Callum Hudson-Odoi – 6/10
Hudson-Odoi struggled to get into the game and was mostly quiet during his time on the field.
CM: N’Golo Kante – 7/10
The French midfield ace protected his backline quite well and was substituted in the 64th minute.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 8/10
Kovacic got stuck in with multiple tackles to disrupt the opposition’s flow in the game. He even engineered some decent chances for his teammates to score.
LM: Marcos Alonso – 8/10
The Spaniard won the ball back a few times and was a constant menace for the Villarreal defenders. He had plenty of chances to score but failed to take any of them. However, Alonso created a lot of meaningful openings in the final third and converted his penalty in the shootout.
RAM: Hakim Ziyech – 7.5/10
Ziyech gave Chelsea the lead midway through the first half but had to go off with an injury just before half-time.
LAM: Kai Havertz – 6.5/10
Havertz picked up an assist for setting up Ziyech’s opener. However, he missed his penalty in the shootout.
ST: Timo Werner – 6/10
The German marksman hardly got a sniff at goal and was substituted in the 64th minute.
Substitutes:
RAM: Christian Pulisic – 6/10
He had a couple of lively moments in the final third and scored his penalty in the shootout.
CM: Mason Mount – 7/10
Mount was full of energy and caused some headaches for the Villarreal centre-backs.
CM: Jorginho – 7/10
The Italian added some steel to the Chelsea midfield and scored a classy penalty in the shootout.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 6/10
He had a tough time dealing with the fluid movement of the opposition attackers.
CB: Cesar Azpilicueta – 7/10
The Spaniard used his experience well on the defensive end of the pitch.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 7.5/10
He made two stops in the shootout to win the UEFA Super Cup for the Blues.
