Player Ratings: Al Hilal 0-1 Chelsea as Lukaku goal sends Chelsea to Club World Cup final
The Blues are through to the Club World Cup final after an 1-0 victory over Al Hilal at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
After a string of wasted Chelsea chances, Romelu Lukaku was on hand to rifle home from close range in the 32nd minute – a much needed strike for an embattled striker who is suffering a crisis of confidence at current.
However, The Blues had the advantage at the interval but, while dominant in possession and the midfield battle, it was still far from convincing. Thomas Tuchel was again absent through Covid, so it fell to his Hungarian assistant Zsolt Lőw to rally the troops before emerging from the break.
But rather than kicking on, the favourites had to weather the storm with Al Hilal encouraged by the Londoners seeming to fade. A couple of impressive saves from in-form Kepa Arrizabalaga were needed to keep Chelsea ahead.
It’s not a classic that the travelling fans will remember in a hurry, but a win is a win. Brazilian outfit Palmeiras await in the final on Saturday and the Blues will be keen to banish the regrets of succumbing to Brazilian opposition Corinthians in the 2012 Club World Cup final. Until then, below are Chelsea’s player ratings from today’s win!
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 8/10: Given the nod over the returning AFCON winner Edouard Mendy as a vote of confidence in the former Bilbao ‘keeper, whose penalty save heroics in domestic action last weekend was the latest instalment in his redemptive arc between the sticks. It continued today. Denied Mo Marega with a composed and alert stop with half an hour remaining before a sublime one-handed save from a Mohamed Kanno rocket. A relatively busy day for the Spaniard was no problem again – another clean sheet under his belt.
Andreas Christensen – 7/10: After being withdrawn at half-time at the weekend, the Dane again seemed to have a few niggles early on here, on his 150th appearance for the Blues and his tenth anniversary with the club. It’s not been the easiest of periods in that time for Christensen, with off-field noise seeming to contribute to a dip in performances. That said, his immaculate recovery tackle to deny a surging Odion Ighalo with minutes left of the first half was a timely reminder of his abilities.
Thiago Silva – 6/10: The normally impregnable Brazilian was a tad off the pace. He was caught flat-footed on a couple of occasions and seemed to struggle physically with the plucky efforts of the AFC Champions League holders, but his reading of the game meant he still made a couple of very good blocks.
Antonio Rüdiger – 6/10: Quite a tame performance from the German, who went about his business without showing much of his usual mischievous nature. Seemed to resist the urge to bomb forward, opting for a more mature and measured approach.
César Azpilicueta – 6/10: After his swashbuckling showing against Plymouth Argyle, his offensive contribution was all together more muted in the UAE. The Spaniard wants Chelsea to “bring the trophy to the boss”. They’re halfway there, in spite of their endeavours to make hard work of the task.
Jorginho – 6/10 [45]: His involvement was fairly subtle and limited in what ended up as a 45 minute run out for the incumbent UEFA Men’s Player of the Year. The choice to manage his minutes will be wise in the long-run, and it’s not bad when he can be replaced by a World Cup winner.
Mateo Kovacic – 8/10: The Croatian was sublime in the centre of the park, bypassing opponents with consummate ease. His ball-carrying is of an elite class and his eye for a pass is getting better with age and experience. Seemed well up for the occasion, too, with some uncharacteristic hard-hitting tackles.
Marcos Alonso – 5/10 [87]: Worked hard on the left flank, supplementing and linking up with teammate Havertz well. Became a bit of a defensive liability as the fixture wore on, with Mohammed Al-Breik and Marega having a lot of joy getting at him.
Hakim Ziyech – 8/10 [72]: Fresh from his bombshell international retirement news and a star turn against Plymouth in the FA Cup last weekend, the Wizard warned that Chelsea cannot underestimate their challengers on the day. He led from the front in that regard, again radiating supreme confidence and not being afraid to take some risks. Lacked the same decisive cutting edge he has had in previous weeks, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort and pretty much everything ran through him.
Kai Havertz – 8/10: Tenacious and neat in equal measure from the silky German. This writer is not entirely convinced the wide 10 position allows the former Leverkusen talent to deploy the full extent of his fine repertoire, but this was a great performance in which he showed his grace and low centre of gravity in the pockets while also being more than up for the physical battle against right-back Al-Breik. Has surely justified a consistent run of games, one way or another.
Romelu Lukaku – 6/10: Got on the scoresheet by virtue of a fortunate deflection, but that was the gloss on another mixed bag for the Belgian. Vast swathes of his performance was painful viewing once again. Prone to straying offside, taking up poor positions, and the less said about his dribbles the better. Still, he was brought in for a record transfer fee to score goals and that is exactly what he finally did after a long drought, and his hold-up play was perfectly serviceable on balance. It really is time to kick on from this – a final on the world stage represents the perfect opportunity to do so.
Bench: N’Golo Kanté – 6/10 [45]: Passing and decision-making were fairly sloppy from the Frenchman, but he added some fine energy and defensive reinforcement in the second period.
Mason Mount – 5/10 [72]: Not picked from the start after picking up a knock last time out, he seemed to still be feeling the effects. Most things he attempted failed to come off and he lacked the usual dynamism, although the former must be caveated given his colleagues had also given up the ghost at the top end of the pitch.
Malang Sarr – N/A [87]