Chelsea player ratings: Mount and Chilwell do the business for Blues as Havertz and Werner fail to fire against Porto
CHELSEA take two vital away goals into their second leg against Porto after Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell did the business for the Blues.
Edouard Mendy also did brilliantly to keep a clean sheet – but German pair Timo Werner and Kai Havertz again failed to fire.
Chelsea bounced back confidently after being beaten under manager Thomas Tuchel for the first time.
And here’s how Simon Phillips rated Tuchel’s performers.
Edouard Mendy – 9/10
Was called upon too many times for Chelsea’s liking but pulled off a number of great saves.
Also, very comfortable with the ball at his feet once again.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7
The captain was under immense pressure from an intense high press but he largely did his job well.
Some important last gasp interceptions and blocks from him.
Andreas Christensen – 7
He looked phased after an early telling off from Thomas Tuchel for a misplaced long-ball, and he didn’t really try another one after that.
Made some very good blocks at the back and defended well.
Antonio Rudiger – 7
He wasn’t hassled as much as the other two centre-backs but his pace and leadership was needed far too often.
Reece James – 9
He offered much needed physicality to Chelsea’s team that generally lacked it.
Some nice moves down the right and he was always in space, links up very well with Mount and defended impressively.
Jorginho – 6
Found Mount well for the opening goal, but he lacks a real presence in that was missing for Chelsea against a fast and physical side.
Mateo Kovacic – 6
He always seemed to have two players on him, with Porto knowing him to be Chelsea’s possession keeper in the middle of the park.
Ben Chilwell – 9
An impressive game for the England international who played with a lot more confidence.
Good moving forward and good at the back as well. He scored a superb goal late on after an excellent solo run.
Mason Mount – 8
Took his goal beautifully to put Chelsea 1-0 up with a silky turn and perfectly placed finish.
Timo Werner – 4
I forgot that he was on the pitch through large parts of the match he was so quiet.
He barely touched the ball in the first half and was rightly taken off midway into the second.
Kai Havertz – 4
Didn’t really look on it tonight and was often physically losing out to the Porto defenders, not protecting the ball well enough and having a heavy touch too often.
Taken off on 64 minutes unsurprisingly.
SUBS
Olivier Giroud (for Werner, 64 mins) – 7
Did he best to get involved and almost created a goal late on.
Christian Pulisic (for Havertz, 64 mins) – 7
Some nice touches and did well to help Chelsea keep possession when needed, he also nearly scored hitting the crossbar.
N’Golo Kante for Mount (79 mins) – N/A
Thiago Silva for James (79 mins) – N/A