Chelsea produced arguably their worst performance of Antonio Conte’s reign as they were outclassed by an organised and confident Roma side in the Italian capital. Stefan El Shaarawy put his side in front after just 39 seconds and he and Roma never looked back. He doubled their lead after a defensive mistake by Antonio Rudiger before Diego Perotti put them further in front in the second half.
Thibaut Courtois – 7 – Man of the Match
No chance with either of El Shaarawy’s goals as his defensive crumbled in front of him. Stood big to deny the same player minutes later and was confident in claiming and punching crosses. Produced some excellent saves from Radja Naingollan and Kostas Manolas, the former shaking his hand after the Belgian tipped his header over.
Gary Cahill – 3
Shifted to the right of the back 3 and looked completely lost for the majority of the game. Replaced by Willian at the start of the second half as the Blues looked to get back into the game.
David Luiz – 4
Looked a shadow of the rock solid Brazilian defender we saw last season but not helped by the constant confusion around him. A poor touch allowed Roma’s front 3 in on goal by Courtois bailed him out with a save from El Shaarawy. Part of the terrible trio who were drawn to Edin Dzeko in the second half, creating acres of space for the other Roma attackers.
Antonio Rudiger – 3
Made a grave error for El Shaarawy’s second goal, letting the ball bounce and run through to the Italian winger who poked it past Courtois to double Roma’s lead. A dismal return to his former club for the German defender.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 5.5
An unconvincing display from Chelsea’s most consistent player and looked hampered by an injury he picked up in the first half. Was pulled over to Dzeko as part of the one of the worst pieces of defending in history but luckily for him, Diego Perotti fired over.
Cesc Fabregas – 4
Too slow to close down Aleksandr Kolarov 30 seconds into the game and the Serbian defender played the ball forward that led to El Shaarawy’s first goal. Gifted the ball to Kolarov and couldn’t get back to prevent Perotti firing in Roma’s third.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 4.5
Passive in midfield for large parts as he and Fabregas were outnumbered by Roma’s midfield triplet of Naingollan, De Rossi and Strootman. Missed a golden chance just before half time, seeing his free header land wide of the far post from a Chelsea corner. His sorry second half performance will leave Chelsea fans yearning for Nemanja Matic, the Frenchman gave the ball away on more than one occasion and tired towards the end of the second period.
Marcos Alonso – 4.5
Had a shot saved by Alisson but other than that had very little opportunity to get into the box or create chances from the left wing. The only member of Chelsea’s back 5 that seemed to know what his role in the team was.
Pedro – 5
Put pressure on Roma’s defence when they were in possession, often cutting in to shoot on his left foot when he had the ball at his feet. Played at right wing-back after Cahill’s departure and was much livelier than Azpilicueta had been in that position in the first half.
Eden Hazard – 6
Chelsea’s brightest spark in a dark first half, having a number of decent efforts on target but Alisson in the Roma goal was equal to all of them. Looked a level above his teammates and grew frustrated with the lack of movement off the ball and ended up strolling around the pitch questioning his existence.
Alvaro Morata – 4.5
Fluffed his lines as Pedro’s interception rolled across the penalty area towards his, but the striker leaned back and the ball flew over the crossbar from close range. Kept under wraps by the Roma defence and was replaced by Michy Batshuayi who didn’t have much luck either.
Substitutes:
Willian – 5
Added some sort of attacking threat but couldn’t combine enough with his disillusioned teammates.
Danny Drinkwater – 6
A positive for Antonio Conte on the night with the team looking a lot stronger after the introduction of Drinkwater to the Chelsea midfield. He kept things ticking over and wasn’t afraid to get stuck into a tackle and might just have played his way into the starting lineup on Sunday.
Michy Batshuayi – 5
Like Morata, didn’t receive the service that he needs to score goals.