Chelsea’s players put in a solid shift against Borussia Dortmund as they fell to a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League, but the overall lack of a killer instinct was exposed at both ends.
Enzo Fernandez failed to deal with Karim Adeyemi for the matchwinner while, in attack, Joao Felix was particularly wasteful with his shooting.
Here are our player ratings...
Kepa Arrizabalaga - 6
Didn’t have a huge amount to do and left all alone against Adeyemi for the goal, the winger’s blistering pace doing for his desperate lunge to save.
Reece James - 8
Bombastic in attack and generally had Adeyemi under wraps from open play. Had a free-kick well saved and, given he’s only recently back from injury, looks really sharp.
Kalidou Koulibaly - 7
Threw blocks in left, right and centre before even popping up in attack during the second half. Shot straight at Gregor Kobel and yet almost scored as the goalkeeper spilled the ball and Emre Can hacked it off the line.
Thiago Silva - 6
Perfectly stable in defence, a tad unlucky to have a header ruled out for handball early on. Clearly handled it but certainly not deliberately, as he collided with a defender.
Ben Chilwell - 6
Good spell in the second half, combining with Mykhailo Mudryk. Still short of fitness and rightly withdrawn late on.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek - 6
Battled well but offered little resistance to his backline, which was exposed so often down the middle in the first half in particular.
Enzo Fernandez - 6
A few cute turns and a very decent effort well saved late on, but the inexperienced midfielder was absolutely creamed for the goal - exposed against Adeyemi’s pace and without the street smarts to stop him.
Hakim Ziyech - 6
Often looked a threat but, one moment aside, didn’t really have the final ball required - particularly from set plays.
Joao Felix - 5
An 8/10 performance for everything apart from the specific moments when he was shooting at goal which, ultimately, are where games are won and lost. Sparky, creative and yet missed two sitters in the first half and drilled a tame effort straight at Kobel in the second.
Mykhailo Mudryk - 6
A threat when given the chance to get his head down and run full pelt at defenders, the Ukrainian ultimately faded and is yet to add a consistent end product to his game.
Kai Havertz - 5
A familiar outing for the German, showing nice touches here and there but ultimately just not having the quality to provide killer touches in front of goal in these games. It was his flicked header from a Chelsea corner that led to Adeyemi’s goal and, on reflection, it’s hard to know exactly why he didn’t try to put his forehead through it.
Substitutes
Mason Mount (for Mudryk, 71’) - 5
Not much impact as Chelsea laid siege to the Dortmund goal.
Marc Cucurella (for Chilwell, 71’) - 4
Gave away fouls and misplaced crosses in busy late display.
