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#3 N’Golo Kante
To no one’s surprise, Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante took to the field against Liverpool on Sunday. Following his confident performance against Lille on Tuesday, the Frenchman looked determined to produce another towering performance.
Unfortunately, the 2018 World Cup winner was smothered by Liverpool’s spirited midfielders and ended up having an uncharacteristically quiet outing.
As always, Kante was tirelessly chasing down every single ball, but rarely made inroads into the Liverpool box. Over the course of the match, the France international neither managed to keep the effort on target nor did he provide a key pass.
His long-ball distribution was also mediocre, with him registering only three long balls in six attempts.
The former Leicester City man was, however, as clinical as ever from the spot.
Taking the Blues’ seventh penalty, Kante went for and successfully found the left side of the net, giving Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher no chance whatsoever.
#2 Kepa Arrizabalaga
Despite Edouard Mendy’s exceptional work over the course of the match, Thomas Tuchel decided to bring in Kepa Arrizabalaga just ahead of the penalty shoot-out.
The Spaniard generally guards Chelsea's goal in shootouts, but ended up emerging as the culprit at Wembley.
Not only did the former Athletic Bilbao keeper sky his decisive penalty kick, but he also failed to make even a single stop.
His positioning, for the most part, was wrong, and he rarely went in the right direction.
When he was in the correct position, for Virgil van Dijk's kick, for example, he was beaten for pace.
#1 Mason Mount
While Kepa Arrizabalaga was undoubtedly the culprit of the shootout, Chelsea poster boy Mason Mount had to be dubbed the wrongdoer at regular time. The England international squandered not one, not two, but three glorious chances to put his team ahead, but failed to apply the finishing touches.
He got his first chance just before half-time when Kai Havertz sent Mount through on goal. The England international somehow fired wide from point-blank range.
Four minutes into the second half, the forward found himself one-on-one with the keeper. Once again, he lost his composure and hit the inside of the post.
His third attempt on the night came a couple of minutes before the hour mark. This time, he got on the end of a counter-attack only to hit his effort straight at Kelleher.
An uncharacteristically wayward display by one of the best talents in English football.
