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Chelsea became the first English side to suffer defeat in this year’s Champions League when they were defeated 3-0 away to Roma.
The Blues conceded three goals to the Italian side as an excellent half-volley from Stephen El Shaarawy, along with another chipped finish from the Italian and a long-range Diego Perotti strike left the Chelsea side desperate for the final whistle.
Here are the player ratings from the match:
AS Roma
Alisson – 6
The Brazilian showed very good handling, holding onto lots of Hazard shots from outside the box. Also, nearing half-time, he pulled off an impressive save to deny Alonso who aimed to curl one in from the left.
Alessandro Florenzi – 6
Early on, Hazard’s jinking runs left the full-back spinning around in circles. But as the game went on he managed to deal with the Belgian and began to defend very well.
Federico Fazio – 7
Playing on the right side of defence, Fazio mainly faced Eden Hazard, and did especially well to force the Belgian into just long shots.
Juan Jesus – 7
Like in the first leg, the Brazilian centre-back looked calm and composed in defence and on the ball, often reading the play and cutting out many Chelsea attacks.
Aleksandar Kolarov – 9
Kolarov was heavily involved with the opener, playing the ball into Dzeko before he set up El Shaarawy. And he continued to fire balls into the Chelsea box to frontman Dzeko. As the night went on he got better and better, making runs in behind and eventually getting an assist for Perotti’s strike.
Radja Nainggolan – 7
Nainggolan got the assist for El Shaarawy’s second, despite it being a bit lucky with Rudiger’s defensive error, and put in a commanding display in midfield.
Daniele De Rossi – 8
The Italian displayed a fantastic range of passes, picking the ball up deep in the pitch and finding Dzeko in behind and Perotti and El Shaarawy on the wings.
Kevin Strootman – 7
Strootman was crucial to Roma. Being that extra man in midfield, he dictated the play and cut out some Chelsea attacks with some good interceptions.
Stephan El Shaarawy – 9
Running onto Dzeko’s knockdown, El Shaarawy scored one of the goals of the season, firing in a half-volley from outside the box. He continued to make threatening runs inside and reaped the benefits when he chipped the ball over Courtois to score his second goal of the evening.
Edin Dzeko – 9
From the off, like at Stamford Bridge, Dzeko was heavily involved, and his knockdown to El Shaarawy set up the opening goal. He put on a show holding the ball up very impressively and bringing other team-mates into the game.
Diego Perotti – 8
Perotti was looking like one of Roma’s quietest players on the night. However, in the second half, he made his way past Azpilicueta before scoring with a brilliant strike from outside the box. From then on he continued to threaten and replicated his performance away to the Blues.
Substitutions:
Gerson – 6
Gerson put in a good defensively display after his arrival, keeping out Willian and Hazard on his right-hand side.
Kostas Manolas – N/A
Manolas was arguably unlucky not to score shortly after his arrival, but had little to do otherwise.
Lorenzo Pellegrini – N/A
Coming on with just three minutes to go, there was no time for Pellegrini to make an impact.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 7
The Belgian could do absolutely nothing about some fantastic goals from Roma. He made a number of good saves and showed some good distribution but unfortunately had to pick the ball out of his net three times.
Gary Cahill – 6
Playing on the right side of the defence, Cahill faced Perotti for lots of the match and mainly nullified his threat. He was eventually taken off for Willian, as Chelsea tried to chase down the two-goal lead for Roma.
David Luiz – 5
Luiz was not involved with the mistakes for either of Roma’s goals, but did not look his usual self on the night, failing to take control in the middle of the defence and making the odd mistake.
Antonio Rudger – 3
It was an unforgivable mistake from the German to let the ball bounce past him as El Shaarawy tucked away his second. On his first Champions League start of the season, the central defender put in a shambolic display against his former club.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 5
At right wing back, Azpilicueta doesn’t offer as much as Victor Moses in an attacking sense and he had a torrid time defensively against Kolarov, who put in a magnificent performance.
Cesc Fabregas – 5
Fabregas played some fantastic balls over the top, often finding Hazard in behind. However, defensively the Spaniard still doesn’t look strong enough to play in a midfield two and his sloppy ball to Kolarov set up Roma’s third of the evening.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 5
The midfielder missed a very easy opportunity with his head from a corner on the brink of half-time which could have got his side back in the game. He looked to be Chelsea’s best performer on the night, but he tired in the second half and became sloppy with his passing.
Marcos Alonso – 5
Alonso’s slow reactions arguably cost his team, as El Shaarawy was able to latch onto the ball before him when he fired in his first goal. Going forward the Spaniard was much better, but that seems to be a familiar problem with the wing back, he is too focused on attacking rather than defending.
Pedro – 6
Pedro looked to be one of Chelsea’s brightest players on the evening, like Hazard, but he struggled to create any effective chances.
Alvaro Morata – 4
Morata missed a great opportunity to make it 1-1 in a one on one situation as he fired over. The Spaniard looked isolated all evening in one of his worst performances this season
Eden Hazard – 6
In the first half Hazard was by far Chelsea’s best player showing off some magical dribbling skills. But in the second half his threat fizzled out and he got quieter and quieter as the game went on.
Substitutions:
Willian – 5
Willian tried to be effective, but seemed to occupy the space already being taken up by Hazard and Pedro. He struggled to get involved after his introduction at 2-0 down.
Danny Drinkwater – N/A
The Englishman looked to be positive, but the game was almost dead after his introduction as Roma’s three-goal lead put them so far clear of the visitors.
Michy Batshuayi – N/A
Batshuayi, like Morata, struggled to see any of the ball, but had little time to make an impact at 3-0 down.
