Chelsea did what they needed to against Liverpool on Sunday to retain their outside chance of sneaking into the Premier League’s top four come the end of the season, edging out the Champions League finalists in a tight and cagey 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Olivier Giroud provided the only goal of the game by latching onto a Victor Moses cross, while Eden Hazard was his usually creative self just behind Chelsea’s front-man. But did any of those three earn the Chelsea fans’ pick as Man of the Match? We recently asked Blues supporters to issue player ratings for each of those involved Sunday’s victory – here’s a rundown of the four players who received the highest rankings…
Olivier Giroud – 7.6/10: The Frenchman bagged the winner after 32 minutes, not for the first time punishing Liverpool’s weaknesses in the air. But the former Arsenal star struggled to build on that early momentum, only taking one more effort at goal and creating just the single chance despite having the power and height to bring the midfield into the game. His passing accuracy was a modest 40%.
N’Golo Kante – 7.6/10: Unquestionably one of Chelsea’s most consistent players, Sunday marked another busy outing for the one-time Leicester City man. It was by no means Kante’s most imposing performance in a Blues shirt but he did weigh in with a massive eight interceptions.
Eden Hazard – 7.8/10: The Belgian maestro impressed more and more as the game went on, and was unlucky not to have his performance rewarded with a goal. Completed eight dribbles against Liverpool and was only beaten in terms of chance creation by Moses, but it was his ability to consistently bring Chelsea up the pitch on the counter-attack that stood out most.
Antonio Rudiger – 7.9/10: Well acquainted with Mohamed Salah from their time together at Roma, there’s no doubt Chelsea’s powerful centre-half – who Transfermarkt value at £36million – did a job on the Premier League’s form player of 2017/18. Playing up against the Egyptian, Rudiger hardly gave Salah a sniff and almost got on the scoresheet himself, only for the linesman to raise the offside flag.
View the results in full below…
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