A few players got praise for their performance for Chelsea last night, despite a pretty tepid team effort overall.
Jadon Sancho won the “Player of the Match” award from Sky Sports and got a lot of credit after he came on at half time and added some threat down the left, and Christopher Nkunku was the one won actually won the game when he squeezed in Sancho’s pass Robert Sanchez’s penalty save in the first half also proved key.
But one player who was good for the full 90 minutes was Moises Caicedo, and that’s especially impressive given the context of his game. Caicedo had played both games for Ecuador in the international break, arriving back in the UK just 48 hours before this game after starting against Peru and Brazil in the last week.
But with Enzo Fernandez ill and Romeo Lavia injured, there weren’t too many options for Enzo Maresca, who surely would have given Caicedo 60 minutes at most in an ideal world.
The stats behind a good showing
Caicedo is at his best when allowed to burst forward a little, but last night he was tasked with protecting the back four more. In a game where manager Enzo Maresca criticised his team for not winning enough duels, Caicedo was an exception. He won 7 of his 9 duels on the ground, making 2 clearances, 2 interceptions and an impressive 10 recovering.
Despite playing deep he also contributed to the attack, playing 7 passes into the final third, including one superb effort with the outside of his foot to set Nicolas Jackson free.
We’re glad Caicedo made it through this game unscathed, and we hope he now enjoys a nice long rest. Hopefully next week we’re able to give him a little more help in the middle of the park, with both Lavia and Fernandez returning to the side.