- April 18, 2022
- Olaoluwa Nwobodo
Chelsea has secured a place in the FA Cup final for the third year in a row. The issue is that they’ve not been able to get over the line in any of the last two years, despite being favorites in all two. In this match, Chelsea looked quite flat and underwhelming in the first half. Chelsea seemed to realize in the second half that there was no reason to be struggling against Crystal Palace. They fixed up and dominated the second half throughout, sinking their London rivals with magnificent goals from Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Here’s how we think the players did individually:
Goalkeeper: Mendy does the needful, secures a clean sheet
Edouard Mendy was alert throughout the game. He made two crucial saves in the match to deny Crystal Palace any shot at a fight. He did rely on the post once when a shot from a rebound bounced off the post. His communication, as usual, was top-notch, as was his distribution.
Defenders: Water-tight defense plays a key role
Thiago Silva started this game from the bench. This meant that Andreas Christensen started at the center of the back three. He was a bit dodgy in the first half but he did much better in the second half. He won most of his duels and made more clearances than anyone on the pitch. He also made more defensive actions than any Chelsea player.
Reece James ended up playing as the right centerback. He too was very good. He won four out of five duels and made six defensive actions. Rudiger also played well. Altogether it was a strong defensive display or at least strong enough to secure a clean sheet in a semifinal.
Midfielders: Sub-par central midfield saved by the flanks
“Sub-par central midfield” may be a bit disingenuous. Mateo Kovacic played for 26 minutes in which he was flat before he got injured. Jorginho had a poor first half but picked up in the second half. Jorginho’s distribution was the best for Chelsea, unfortunately, he got bypassed the most, being dribbled past three times, the most of any Chelsea player. No one on the pitch made more tackles than the Italian though.
Cesar Azpilicueta was very good at right wingback. He won nine out of 12 duels and in fact won all five of his aerial duels. He was alert and combative, making two interceptions and three tackles. Marcos Alonso was also dominant in his duels. Winning six out of his seven contested duels. He made four defensive actions and was good with his passing.
Forwards: Average until the second half
Chelsea’s forwards were having a game to forget until the second half. The second half was a comprehensive performance from them though. Werner was very good. In fact, Werner was Chelsea’s most impactful forward. He created more chances than any other player, as well as creating two clear-cut chances. He was the only forward that deserved to play 90 minutes. Mount’s only contribution was the goal, which was quite the contribution. Werner also deserves credit for finding Mount in that space for his goal.
Substitutes:
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was introduced due to necessity, but he justified it with a clean strike to put Chelsea ahead. He helped Chelsea in central midfield with his dribbling and ball retention. He won two fouls to relieve Chelsea of pressure. Ziyech only played 13 minutes but he nearly scored. His shot was cleared off the line by Marc Guehi. Lukaku also came very close to scoring as well, and nearly got on the end of some very good crosses. Kante came on for Jorginho for 13 minutes and didn’t do much. Silva was nonexistent
Thomas Tuchel did everything right. He made the right substitutions at the right time. He was forced into an early substitution when Kovacic got injured, but he still made sure he paced the other substitutions well for maximum effect.