CHELSEA continued their unbeaten start to life under Graham Potter as Mason Mount’s double clinched a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
The Blues took an early lead when Tyrone Mings’ woeful header ballooned up inside his own penalty area and Mason Mount stroked it home on the volley from close range.
Villa then had two superb chances to level things up, but keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga produced a pair of wonderful saves to deny first Douglas Luiz and then Danny Ings.
And Chelsea almost doubled their advantage shortly before the break when Raheem Sterling’s curled effort struck the crossbar.
But Graham Potter’s men did extend their advantage midway through the second period as a superb Mount free-kick bamboozled Emi Martinez, looping over the keeper and into the net.
Here is how SunSport’s Dylan Terry saw the performances of the Chelsea players.
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KEPA ARRIZABALAGA – 9/10
Made an outstanding save to deny Douglas Luiz midway through the first half, before then outdoing himself with a quite ASTONISHING stop from point blank range to deny Danny Ings.
Kepa is showcasing the lightning-quick reflexes which do not appear to have alluded him despite a tough couple of years.
Edouard Mendy may find it very tough to regain the No1 spot given the Spaniard’s current form.
TREVOH CHALOBAH – 6
Looked a little exposed up against Ings and McGinn, albeit with little help from Sterling in the first period.
Seemed more comfortable with a more defensive-based right wingback alongside him, with Azpilicueta shoring things up in the second half.
THIAGO SILVA – 6
Both in and out of possession, the Brazilian is a class act.
Found Mount, Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek a number of times with incisive balls to get Chelsea attacks started.
Did face a nervy moment when he was bounced off the ball by McGinn, only for Kepa to bail the defender out with another smart stop.
MARC CUCURELLA – 5
Cucurella and Chilwell do not appear to have established a coherent understanding on the left side of Chelsea’s defence.
Villa found a lot of space in the right channel, with the ex-Brighton man also giving the ball away a little too often.
Substituted at the break as Potter looked to address his side’s defensive frailties.
RAHEEM STERLING – 7
A match of two halves for Sterling.
It isn’t his fault, but he simply isn’t a right wingback.
Time and time again McGinn found space behind the England international during the first half and Potter eventually switched Loftus-Cheek there as Sterling was pushed further upfield.
When in his preferred wide attacking position, Sterling then immediately had an impact as he curled a decent effort against the crossbar.
He looked a constant threat throughout the second period, going close again with a header late on as he took Aubameyang’s place through the middle.
MATEO KOVACIC – 7
A dreadfully underrated midfielder. Always available for a pass and consistently keeps possession while under pressure.
Did begin to lose control of the game at times and was substituted for Jorginho midway through the second half.
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RUBEN LOFTUS-CHEEK – 6
Was asked to play as a central midfielder, right wingback, and then central midfielder again.
Coped relatively well in the middle of the park without doing anything spectacular.
BEN CHILWELL – 5
Chilwell showed himself to be a constant attacking outlet but often a little unaware when defending.
Booked for a nasty tackle on Ramsey in the first half and drifted out of the match as it went on.
MASON MOUNT – 9
Cooly finished for his first Chelsea goal of the season with England boss Southgate watching on from the stands.
His work rate, positional intelligence and creativity have never been in doubt and he showcased that once more on Sunday afternoon.
Adding goals to his game will only enhance his bid for a starting place in Qatar next month, and he doubled his tally for the campaign with a lovely free-kick.
A late booking will do nothing to spoil his day.
KAI HAVERTZ – 3
Very poor performance from Havertz who was a passenger for most of the first half, creating very little in the final third.
Struggling to find any sort of consistency so far this season, the German was hooked by Potter at half-time.
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG – 3
Aubameyang’s only contributions in the first period were to give possession away in Chelsea’s own half.
Did nothing to warrant Potter keeping him on at the start of the second half and was taken off before the hour mark.
Chelsea look a far more potent threat with Sterling as the focal point of their attack.
SUBSTITUTES
KALIDOU KOULIBALY (FOR CUCURELLA, 46) – 6
Replaced Cucurella as the left-sided centre-back and needed just 15 minutes to earn himself a yellow card for a cynical foul on Ramsey.
Looked more assured as he grew into the match, with Chelsea claiming a bit more control of the game.
CESAR AZPILICUETA (FOR HAVERTZ, 46) – 6
Showed what an orthodox wingback looks like after Sterling and Loftus-Cheek both struggled to cope with McGinn.
Nullified Villa’s threat as the hosts switched their attack and tried their luck down the other flank towards the end of the game.
CONOR GALLAGHER (FOR AUBAMEYANG, 58) – 7
Provided a sumptuous cross for Sterling who headed just wide.
Gave Chelsea the energy in midfield which they had been lacking in the first 45.
JORGINHO (FOR KOVACIC, 65) – 6
Demonstrated his ability to retain possession and dictate the tempo of a game when Chelsea needed to see it out from a commanding position.
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ARMANDO BROJA (FOR STERLING, 89) – N/A
Only had a handful of touches as he replaced Sterling for the final few passages of play.
Subs not used: Pulisic, Mendy, Zakaria, Chukwuemeka.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
