Chelsea player ratings vs BATE Borisov: Here’s how the Blues fared
Olivier Giroud scored his first goal of the season as Chelsea ran out 1-0 winners against BATE Borisov in the Europa League. With the victory, Chelsea are through to the next round of the competition.
Maurizio Sarri left several first-team regulars but included Jorginho and Eden Hazard for the game. It was an uninspiring first half showing from Chelsea, against a BATE Borisov side showing far more resolve than they had at Stamford Bridge.
Eventually, Giroud’s second-half header became the difference between both the sides as Sarri’s Chelsea preserved their record as the only unbeaten team in Europe’s top five leagues.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Kepa Arrizabalaga- 6/10
Kepa made a fantastic save early in the game from close range. Apart from that, he was rarely threatened, although BATE hit the woodwork twice.
Davide Zappacosta- 4/10
Saw a lot of the ball but his positioning was awful as BATE attackers caught him out of his area a number of times. The Italian not only struggled defensively but also was poor going forward.
Gary Cahill- 5/10
Struggled to bring out from the back. His passing was not up to the mark and barring a couple of sloppy passes, he was solid.
Andreas Christensen- 5/10
Christensen’s passing also wasn’t crisp as it usually is. Alongside Cahill, he struggled and put Chelsea in trouble early on. Dealt with BATE’s threat, although.
Emerson- 6/10
Emerson put a decent ball into the box where Olivier Giroud was there to head it home in the second half. He had struggled to make a mark in the first half but improved markedly in the second.
Jorginho- 5/10
His passing was very poor according to his standards. Jorginho failed to impose himself in the first half and improved very little after the break.
Ross Barkley- 5/10
Slow and sluggish, Barkley’s decision-making was very poor. He kept things simple and hardly added any creativity to the play in the final third.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek- 4/10
A series of wrong decisions summed up his night. Loftus-Cheek’s positioning and passing were not great and was hauled off after an hour.
Eden Hazard- 6/10
A pretty ordinary night for Hazard, who started for the first time after Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United. Got very little space to weave his magic and apart from some neat link-up play with his fellow teammates, he disappointed.
Pedro- 5/10
Worked tirelessly for 85 minutes but hardly made an impact with the ball. Lacked his usual zip and energy to drive past the BATE defenders.
Olivier Giroud- 6/10
Scored his first goal of the season with a neat header. Barring the goal, Giroud offered very little movement in the final third.
Substitutes
Willian- 5/10
Replaced Hazard and brought energy to Chelsea’s attack.
Read more: Chelsea cannot afford to lose this key 31-year-old star amidst Barcelona interest
Mateo Kovacic- 5/10
Added some solidity to the midfield.
Callum Hudson-Odoi- N/A
He had very little time to make an impact.