After a 1-0 defeat at the Etihad to champions-elect Manchester City on Sunday, the Blues have now lost in consecutive weeks in the city of Manchester, and their hopes of finishing in the top four have taken a huge blow. From the offset, Antonio Conte’s side looked toothless and didn’t have enough attacking impetus. Bernardo Silva struck early on in the second half to put City in front, and the Blues seemed content with a narrow defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side. Here’s who impressed on Sunday (if anyone did):
3. Willian
It was a struggle to come up with one player who could be included, let alone three. Willian makes the top three because everyone else was extremely poor, and he seemed like the only attacking player to really run at City’s defence whenever the Chelsea players attempted a rare foray forward. Although the number of attacks Chelsea made were extremely low, it was Willian who was at the heart of all the running and seemed the most likely player to hurt City’s backline.
2. Thibaut Courtois
Another player who just about scraped into the top three. Despite constant press speculation over his future at the club, the Belgian put in a good performance. With City dominating possession, the goalkeeper had to be constantly alert as the home side could find themselves in on goal within a few passes. He couldn’t really do anything about City’s goal, and he did make a few good saves late on to keep the Blues within a shout of getting back into the game.
1. Cesar Azpilicueta
Chelsea’s best defender and player by a mile at the Etihad on Sunday. In an utterly toothless performance, Azpilicueta was the only player to play with any desire or heart. His afternoon wasn’t an easy one, as he was up against the highly impressive Leroy Sane. The German almost opened the scoring for City, but the Spaniard produced a remarkable goal-line clearance to keep the game goalless. If Azpilicueta wasn’t in the side, it might’ve been an embarrassing scoreline for the Blues.
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