Chelsea Player Ratings V Middlesbrough: Five Players Get 8/10 But One Player Gets A 4

Chelsea cruised into the Carabao Cup final as they swiped aside Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening.

While some fans were concerned following the 1-0 defeat at the Riverside Stadium, the Blues quickly turned things around in the second leg, with the tie being settled by half-time.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino would have been delighted that his team stepped up to the plate in such an important game.

Press the next page as we give player ratings for the resounding 6-1 victory.

Goalkeeper and Defence

GK – Djordje Petrovic – 6/10 – the Serbian didn’t have a great deal to do, other than to pick the ball out of the net, when Morgan Rogers scored a late consolation goal.

RB – Axel Disasi – 7/10 – Malo Gusto’s injury meant that the Frenchman was moved out to the right-hand side of defence. He hasn’t really shown a lot in terms of his offensive capabilities since arriving in England but he produced the goods against Boro.

His cross led to Enzo Fernandez scoring the 2nd goal, and he scored the third, with a well-placed shot. However, he did stand off Rogers before the Middlesbrough forward scored from long-range.

CB – Thiago Silva – 7/10 – the Brazilian played some accurate long passes and made a couple of important sliding tackles to prevent counter-attacks.

CB – Levi Colwill – 7/10 – the defender gave the ball away needlessly on a number of occasions early on but his defending was sound and he grew into the game.

LB – Ben Chilwell – 8/10 – you wouldn’t have guessed that the vice-captain had only played 15 minutes of football since September. He made several out-to-in forward runs which caused Boro’s defence all manner of problems.

Midfield

DM – Moises Caicedo – 7/10 – covered the ground and won possession on multiple occasions to ensure that the Blues dominated the ball, preventing Middlesbrough from getting up the pitch.

CM – Enzo Fernandez – 8/10 – it was a deliberate ploy by Pochettino to play the Argentinian as high up the pitch as possible and it worked a treat.

Jonny Howson was given a man-marking job but he failed to track Fernandez when he scored Chelsea’s second goal. The midfielder was a constant thorn in the side of the Blues’ opponents all evening.

CM – Cole Palmer – 8/10  – the 21-year-old was pretty subdued in the opening exchanges, having very little influence on the game. However, he came to life to score Chelsea’s fourth goal.

The playmaker was silky in possession and he also showed great composure to score with a first-time touch from a Conor Gallagher cross for his second of the night.

Forwards

RW – Raheem Sterling – 8/10 – got a bit lucky for Chelsea’s first goal. His pass was behind Armando Broja, who was forced to control the ball. However, Howson’s interception found its way into the back of his own net.

Sterling’s backheel was crucial in the build-up to Fernandez’s goal, and he then picked out Disasi with a cross for the third.

CF – Armando Broja – 6/10 – some will say that his first touch let him down before Howson’s own goal but it was a poor pass from Sterling. He also played his part in Chelsea’s second goal by getting his foot on the ball before Fernandez scored.

LW – Mykhailo Mudryk – 4/10 – Pochettino was not happy with the Ukrainian’s positioning and he was also wasteful in possession so he was hooked at half-time.

Substitutes

Noni Madueke – 7/10 – took his goal expertly, with some nice touches in the box before slotting the ball away with a curling effort from his left foot.

Conor Gallagher – 8/10 – two assists in the space of 25 minutes is not bad going. Cut the ball back from the byline to set up Palmer, and then slotted a neat through ball to Madueke.

Alfie Gilchrist – 6/10 – worked hard after replacing Chilwell but could have done better in the build-up to Rogers’ goal.

Carney Chukwuemeka – 6/10 – got some precious minutes in the legs, having spent months on the sidelines with a troublesome knee injury.

Luke Castledine – N/A