UCL 2017/18: Chelsea 3-3 Roma, Player Ratings

Eden Hazard’s brace saved Chelsea’s blushes as a six-goal thriller at the Bridge ended in a draw. David Luiz opened the scoring early on with a great strike from outside the box when the ball rolled into his path, and Hazard made it two after 37 minutes despite Roma’s dominance.

But, their dominance in possession would then prevail as Aleksandr Kolarov pulled one back just three minutes later to give Roma hope at the break. Roma completed the comeback and the turnaround as an Edin Dzeko double, one being a magnificent weak footed volley and the other a header across goal, gave the away side a shock lead.

However, as the Blues have a habit of doing, they scored at the right moment just five minutes after Dzeko’s second, when Hazard directed a header past Alisson making it 3-3, which would go on to be the final result in an enthralling counter between the two sides.

Here are the player ratings from the match:

Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois – 7 – Courtois could have no real complaints about any of Roma’s goals, and he made a tremendous save early in the second half to deny Dzeko a tap in. He made some nice saves throughout the game and wasn’t at fault for any of the goals.

Zappacosta – 5 – looked exciting going forward, but Perotti did cause the new Chelsea signing some significant problems on occasions and he was later taken off as Chelsea attempted to improve defensively.

Cesar Azpilicueta – 5 – The Spaniard was consistent as usual, but only up until the Kolarov goal. He found it slightly difficult, along with Zappacosta, at times to deal with Perotti who often run the Chelsea defenders ragged.

Gary Cahill – 6 – Despite some difficulties recently at Chelsea for Cahill, he performed well and defended well throughout the 90 minutes at the Bridge, even after a head injury forced him to wear a bandage near the end.

Andreas Christensen – 7 – Christensen, since his return from his loan last season, has continued his form from last season. The Chelsea centre-back is going to be an important part of Chelsea’s future.

Marcos Alonso – 6 – Alonso defended well and kept out Gerson on his Champions League debut, forcing him into long shots or failed crosses. He didn’t, however, offer much going forward like he usually does.

David Luiz – 7 – Playing in a higher role than usual, like he did at Wembley earlier on this season, Luiz excelled and even got his name on the scoresheet with a wonderful strike from outside the box. He did make some silly fouls, but on a whole, it was a very good performance in midfield.

Tiemoue Bakayoko – 5 – Bakayoko had a good first half, often getting forward and cutting out Roma attacks high up the pitch. However, in the second half, he was more of a bystander and saw Nainggolan, Strootman and Gonalons get in behind him quite often.

Cesc Fabregas – 5 – As Chelsea struggled to see much of the ball, Fabregas struggled. On a night where Roma dominated possession, he really struggled to dictate play and it only highlighted how poor he is defensively.

Eden Hazard – 9 – The Chelsea number 10 was struggling to see much of the ball in the first half, but that didn’t stop him popping up in the right place at the right time to score Chelsea’s second of the evening. He came into his own in the second half, dribbling and gliding past Roma players like he does so well. He then capped off a great performance and got his Chelsea team out of jail with a headed equaliser.

Alvaro Morata – 6 – The Spaniard provided good movement and showed great feet in tight spaces, but he wasn’t as effective as he has been on most occasions this season.

Substitutions

Pedro – 6 – Pedro helped Chelsea going forward as they were camped for a lot of the first half, and his intelligent cross set up Hazard’s equaliser.

Antonio Rudiger – N/A – Brought on near the end to help Chelsea defensively as they struggled to keep out Roma.

Willian – N/A – With little time to play, Willian was introduced, but he had too short an amount of time to make an impact.

AS Roma

Alisson – 6 – The Roma goalkeeper was very unlucky to concede three goals, all goals he could do nothing about. His distribution was quick and positive, he was just unfortunately on the wrong side of some clinical Chelsea finishing.

Bruno Peres – 6 – Peres made a silly decision and gave the ball away in the lead up to Chelsea’s second goal, but he performed well and got forward well.

Federico Fazio – 6 – A fantastic ball over the top saw him get an assist for Dzeko’s equaliser. The Argentine found it difficult defensively at times but his passing out from the back was extremely good, emphasised by his through ball for Dzeko’s first goal of the evening.

Juan Jesus – 7 – Jesus looks to be a great replacement for Rudiger in defence. He dealt with Morata well, unlike most defenders this season, and looked to be very calm and assured passing the ball out from the back.

Aleksandr Kolarov – 8 – On his return to England, Kolarov put in an outstanding performance which even saw him score. It was a great run which saw him knock the ball past Azpilicueta before deflecting an effort past Courtois. He remained positive all night even got an assist too from left back.

Radja Nainggolan – 7 – Nainggolan was finding it tough in the first half as he was roughed up by Luiz and failed to do much in the final third. But, after the interval, he found lots of pockets of space and helped create lots of Roma chances.

Maxim Gonalons – 6 – Gonalons kept the play ticking over and certainly helped switch play well, which was crucial to breaking down Chelsea. The only criticism of the midfielder was his positional awareness defensively could do with some improvement.

Kevin Strootman – 7 – Strootman, like Gonalons, was very effective moving the ball quickly from side to side. A skill which eventually helped unlock Chelsea’s defence in the second half.

Gerson – 6 – Gerson, on his Champions League debut looked to be positive and made some good dribbles, but he was forced into long shots and blocked crosses a lot by Alonso.

Edin Dzeko – 9 – An incredible strike on the volley from Dzeko got his Roma team back in the game before a header from a Kolarov set piece gave Roma a deserved lead at Stamford Bridge. On his return to England, Dzeko showed what the Premier League is missing.

Diego Perotti – 7 – The Argentinian started off brightly and was unfortunate not to score early on after a brilliant individual weaving run. He continued to make a threat for the most part and gave the Chelsea defence lots of problems.

Substitutions

Pellegrini – N/A – With just 15 minutes to lay, Pellegrini looked to be a threat as a replacement for Gerson, but with his Roma side in the lead and happy to take a draw, he didn’t have much of an impact.

Florenzi – N/A – He replaced Strootman was seven minutes to go and continued to have his effectiveness of moving the ball quickly in midfield.

Stephan El Shaarawy – N/A – El Shaarawy only came on with three minutes to go and barely touched the ball.