Chelsea Match Review I Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest I FA Cup I 5/1/2019

Chelsea Match Review

Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest I FA Cup I 5/1/2019

Match Overview

After a disappointing result against Southampton in the Premier League, the Blues take on Nottingham Forest in the 3^rd Round of the FA Cup. And as it transpired, it was a walk in the park for the Blues with a 2-0 win courtesy of two goals by often-maligned Alvaro Morata.

As expected, Sarri fielded a largely B team for Chelsea in the wake of a tight schedule. Out of his regular Premier League starters, only David Luiz, Ross Barkley and Alvaro Morata retained their place primarily due to a spate of injuries. This match, however, offers to showcase the talents of Chelsea’s youngsters, Hudson-Odoi, Ampadu and Christensen, and even, if the rumours are true, the final match for Cesc Fabregas.

Like a trademark Sarri side, the team retained the majority of possession although much less than what they normally would have, especially against a side who is not as technically gifted as most Premier League clubs. A similar problem of creating clear cut chances seemed to plague Chelsea in the first half, but it got better in the 2^nd half. After the two goals, Chelsea (and Nottingham) set back to play down the minutes.

Match Highlight

Sarri again started with his favoured 4-4-2. Ampadu was placed in the midfield position where Kante would have normally played in. Otherwise, the other players retained their expected starting spots.

The first half was full of action for Chelsea. Like most Chelsea fans, we were eager to see the likes of our youngsters play due to a lack of chances offered in the other competitions. In particular, we wanted to watch Hudson-Odoi on the back of a supposed 30million pound move to Bayern Munich. And impress, he did. He was electrifying on the wings, never rarely put a foot wrong and constantly gave out dangerous crosses. His speed, dribbling and great passing decisions were a delight to watch and all Chelsea fans would be begging for him to stay on with Chelsea.

The talk of the first half was Cesc Fabregas penalty miss after Loftus-Cheek was brought down in the penalty box by a late challenge. Fabregas attempted to dummy his shot, and it did trick Steele into going down quickly. But he took to long to actually make his shot in which Steele then had time to regain his footing and dive to his right to parry Fabregas penalty shot away. What a miss to end his Chelsea career!

First Half              :               0 – 0

Chelsea started the same way as they started the first half, pressing and trying to create chances. Nottingham Forest too, had more chances, although not as clearcut, as the game began to open up. It was Hudson-Odoi that eventually did open up the play. He took on a defender and zipped down the right wing before unleashing a dangerous low cross for Morata to smash in.

Alvaro Morata   49’          Chelsea 1 – 0 Nottingham Forest

Right after scoring though, Morata missed an absolute sitter, with him right in front of goal, but he somehow shot right up and out. To be fair, he was offside, but if he was not, people may talk about this for ages. Right after his sitter though, Hudson-Odoi again zipped down the right wing and delivered a high cross this time which evaded and nicely reached Alvaro Morata. Morata calmly headed past Steele who was not ready for such an early cross.

Alvaro Morata   59’          Chelsea 2 – 0 Nottingham Forest

After the goal, Chelsea seemingly played at a lower pace and tempo. Fabregas came off for Dave (to a standing ovation), and then Morata came off for Ngolo Kante. The team shape was mixed, I couldn’t really make out a solid shape for who plays where, but Emerson was pushed up front as a left winger while Hazard became a false nine. The game then closed down to a rather easy win for Chelsea.

Full Time:            Chelsea 2 – 0 Nottingham Forest

Man Of The Match

Wonderkid Callum Hudson-Odoi. He is truly worth the 30million euros or more.

His pace was absolutely brilliant but his all-round footballing abilities coupled with a sound footballing brain is what makes him stands out. It was no surprise that he had two assists in this match and he clearly outshone all the other players on the pitch.

Player Ratings
       -          Goalkeeper
Willy Caballero, 6

Didn’t have to make any saves in the first half and had quite a quiet second half with easy long distance shots at him, many of which didn’t even find its target. Nevertheless, had a cleansheet to his name.

-          Defenders

Davide Zappacosta, 6

Started the first half brilliantly by unleashing a couple of great long distance shots. Played in some good crosses as well. Played an overall decent game.

Andreas Christensen, 6

Had one nervy moment in the second half. But otherwise solid in his defending, winning most of his aerial duels. May want to improve on his forward passing abilities if he wants to nail a starting Sarri side.

David Luiz, 7

Continuing his rich vein of good form the past few weeks, he was brilliant at stemming the Forest attacking players flow just when they started to gain possession. Great at tidying things up and of course, his passing range is always a joy to watch.

Emerson, 6

Played a decent game at left back before being put in the Left Wing position. Generally had no trouble defensively and offered some help offensively. Became quite quiet in the 2^nd half.

-          Midfielders

Cesc Fabregas, 7

Not really his night as he missed that penalty but he didn’t have, by any chance, a bad game. His passing vision and range is still amazing and he could have gotten a few assists. Unlucky night, and Chelsea will miss their wizard dearly if he were to leave.

Ethan Ampadu, 5

Didn’t really do much to affect the game, but didn’t do anything bad either and apparently that is his trademark; playing simple passes and keeping the ball moving. He is still young, but I’m rather hoping that he will develop a niche in order to be a useful player for Chelsea.

Ross Barkley, 5

Had a rather quiet match. Didn’t have the same link up play as he did with the main team. Couldn’t unleash his deadly shots due to the compactness of the Forest defence. Just an average performance for the England International.

-          Forwards

Callum Hudson-Odoi, 9

Brilliant. Pace, dribbling, passing and decision-making. If he stays and develops, he could just be Hazard’s replacement.

Alvaro Morata, 7

A curious performance. On the back of his brilliant match against Southampton, (in which he did not score), he seemingly came back with a lacklustre attitude. You can see him practically sulking, even after he scored two goals. Which is ironic.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 6

Had a decent start but had to come off really early in the first half due to an injury. Couldn’t really show much but he had some good forays into the opposition’s territory only let down by some heavy touches which may have been induced by his injury.

-          Substitutes

Eden Hazard, 6

Came on around the 44^th minute for the injured Loftus-Cheek. Had a really quiet game throughout, rarely affecting play. It almost seems as if he wanted to conserve energy for matches ahead and hadn’t thought of playing at all today.

Cesar Azpilicueta, NIL

Couldn’t really see him play much. When he came on, the tempo of the game was beginning to drop off. But he did his job in keeping a cleansheet, of course.

N’golo Kante, NIL

Similarly, didn’t really play much to be able to assess his gameplay. Came on when the match tempo was already low and the players already wanting to finish the game off.