Chelsea lost a one-goal lead and suffered their third Premier League defeat of the season at home to Sunderland. Manager Enzo Maresca made eight changes to his squad, which beat Ajax in midweek, but the players quickly found their rhythm at Stamford Bridge. Just four minutes into the match, Pedro Neto provided Alejandro Garnacho with a wonderful through ball, and the Argentine immediately slotted past Robin Rufus with his weak left foot.
However, Sunderland leveled the score late in the first half when Wilson Isidore scored from close range after a long throw-in, causing chaos in the opposition half. Chelsea tried to take the lead in the second half, but were unable to create clear chances. In fact, it was the visiting team that grabbed the three points with a last-minute deciding goal. Kemsudine Talbi fired a shot into the bottom corner of the goal, much to the delight of the away fans at Stamford Bridge.
Express Sport rates Chelsea’s players out of 10 based on their performances this afternoon…
Robert Sanchez – 6
He returned to the team after a mid-week rest. Nothing could be done about either goal.
Reece James – 5
One of eight changes Maresca made. Handled physical fights well.
I wanted them to have more of an impact offensively.
Josh Achiampong – 6
Starting for the third straight league game, he made a superb sliding tackle early on to deny Isidore. He got his first header off a long throw that led to goal, but it appeared to push him back, forcing everyone to play onside.
Despite this, he passed well, frequently running into midfield with the ball and making several decisive sliding tackles.
Trevor Chalobah – 5
There was also a bad moment early in the second half when they took too long against Enzo Le Fe and gave Sunderland a dangerous free-kick. Apart from that, the defender earned several headers.
Marc Cucurella – 5
He returned to the team after resting on Wednesday. He challenged and stranded Bertrand Traore within the first minute, then pulled off an equally stunning sliding tackle to bring the Stamford Bridge crowd to their feet.
He was in some threatening positions in the final third, but was unable to make much of an impact.
Moises Caicedo – 7
Caicedo returned to midfield after playing in defense against Ajax. He was present everywhere.
Several times Sunderland won the ball and Caicedo was there, as usual, to win possession back for the Blues.
Enzo Fernandes – 6
Fernandes’ pass was on point, and he fed Marc Cucurella with a nice pass after 20 minutes, which could have easily led to a goal had the left-back controlled the ball properly. But he couldn’t find his usual goal-scoring position, or at least not when he did.
Pedro Neto – 6
Neto replaced Estebao Willian. He made a great pass and set up Garnacho for the first goal of the game.
Initially, it appeared that he had the upper hand over Reinild, but the Sunderland wing-backs quickly matched him. They had a good chance to counter early in the second half, but a poor pass to Garnacho forced them to miss the chance, and they struggled in the second half.
Joao Pedro – 4
Returning to the number 10 role, some may be hoping for the return of João Pedro.
However, the Brazilian looked unwell this afternoon. His decision-making was questionable at times and he struggled to make much of an impact on Chelsea’s attack.
Alejandro Garnacho – 7
Garnacho made his third consecutive start in the Premier League and justified his selection with a fine goal in front of the Shed End. Recognizing his good performance, Chelsea tried to get him the ball against Nordi Mukiele.
He found himself in some dangerous positions and may be disappointed that he wasn’t able to make a bigger impact on the attack.
Marc Giu – 4
Giu, who made his first league start for the Blues against his loan club at the start of the season, found himself dominated at times by former teammate Dan Ballard. The Spaniard struggled to make an impact.
Estevao Willian (58 minutes, replaced by Garnacho) – 6
Willian had an immediate chance to score, but his shot was well blocked. Chelsea just didn’t seem able to get the ball to him often enough to make much of a difference.
Jamie Gittens (76 minutes, replaced by Giu) – N/A
Gittens didn’t have enough time on the pitch to make the impact he expected.
Tosin Adarabioyo (76th minute, replaced by Acheampong) – N/A
Adarabioyo’s substitution was a bit of a surprise. This was probably to protect Acheampong, who had several collisions in the second half.
Tyrik George (85th minute, substituted by Neto) – N/A
George arrived too late to make an impact.
Andrei Santos (85th minute, replaced by João Pedro) – N/A
The same goes for Santos.
