Final Score: Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth
A late strike from Alvaro Morata sealed a victory for Chelsea against Bournemouth last night in the Carabao Cup quarterfinal encounter. Antonio Conte erupted in joy after the former Real Madrid star netted the winning goal but up until then, it was a rather nervy situation for the Blues. An early goal from Willian put them ahead but Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling chipped in with a well-deserved equaliser in the injury time.
However, Chelsea were lucky to have had Morata come through to seal a berth in the semi-finals. Let’s take a look at the how the players fared against the Cherries.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Willy Caballero – 6/10
Made a couple of routine saves but failed to keep out Gosling’s goal. All in all, it was a decent outing for the goalkeeper.
Antonio Rudiger – 7.5/10
Rudiger used his physicality to deal with the danger posed by Lys Mousset. He kept trouble at bay for most parts of the game and was quite strong at the back.
Ethan Ampadu – 8/10
Received a booking for a tackle on Defoe early on and the youngster put in a calm yet reassuring performance after that. He made some good tackles and even blocked a shot from Jordon Ibe.
Gary Cahill – 6.5/10
Adam Smith thoroughly dominated Cahill. The defender did his job but he was far from his best.
Davide Zappacosta – 4/10
Zappacosta could not keep Ibe’s advances at bay and failed to show any defensive strength. To make matters worse, the player did not contribute while going forward either.
Danny Drinkwater – 7/10
Drinkwater was shoddy in the first half but he reined himself in and did a lot better to keep Harry Arter in check after the break.
Cesc Fabregas – 8/10
Fabregas put in yet another splendid display in the midfield area. His passes were sublime and he also played a part in Willian’s opening goal.
Kenedy – 7/10
The youngster maintained possession quite well and looked quite solid, which is something Conte is likely to have taken note of.
Willian – 8.5/10
Willian displayed some exciting bursts in terms of energy and truly deserved his goal. However, the player may have picked up an injury during the later stages and he was replaced by Eden Hazard.
Pedro – 7/10
Pedro did some good link-up business with Batshuayi but could not get the better of Steve Cook.
Michy Batshuayi – 7/10
Batshuayi started off quite poorly but he worked hard for the rest of the night. Call it luck or whatever but he still did not get to score the goal he is desperately craving for.
Subs:
Eden Hazard – 8/10
Hazard’s trademark creativity and skills troubled Bournemouth and he was involved in Morata’s goal.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 6/10
He was brought on to help influence the midfield but the player did not make as strong an impact as Conte would have liked him to.
Alvaro Morata – 7/10
A poor header from him helped the Cherries’ to equalise but it’s all good since he eventually scored the winning goal.