Chelsea continued their torrid preparation for the new Premier League season, losing on penalties to Arsenal in the FA Community Shield.
Arsenal dominated Chelsea in the first-half, in what has become an all too common occurrence in Chelsea’s pre-season games this year. The Blues did, however, manage to hold out until half-time, with Alexandre Lacazette coming closest for the Gunners when he hit the post.
Chelsea came out all guns blazing at the start of the second-half and took a surprise lead within just 49 seconds of play restarting, when Victor Moses pounced from a Gary Cahill flick on to seemingly make amends for his costly red card in last season’s FA Cup final loss to Arsenal.
A counter attacking Blues side looked comfortable, as they afforded Arsenal no time on the ball – contrary to the lacklustre first-half display.
With just ten minutes to go, it would be another red card incident that cost Chelsea against Arsenal at Wembley, as Pedro’s rash sliding tackle saw the Spaniard receive his marching orders – just moments before he was due to be substituted. From the subsequent free-kick, Chelsea conceded the equaliser, as new signing Sead Kolasinac stole a march on the statuesque Blues back-line to nod home.
After the final whistle had been blown, penalties were needed to separate the two sides and, under the new ABBA system, Chelsea suffered. Both Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Morata missed the target with their spot kicks, whilst Arsenal found the net with all four of their penalties.
Here are our player ratings from the game.
Thibaut Courtois – 6
I genuinely will never know why Conte decided to give Courtois a chance from the spot. His penalty was all you could have expected from a keeper. Having said that, he made some brilliant saves to keep Chelsea in the game during the initial 90 minutes of play – particularly from Granit Xhaka.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6
Defended astutely and worked well with the midfield in the second-half to distribute the ball. He really needed Antonio Rudiger to communicate with him after the German lost Kolasinac for the Arsenal equaliser. This was also a problem last season with Moses and due to Azpilicueta’s ample height, this issue must be resolved quickly before it really costs Chelsea.
David Luiz – 7
Made some crucial blocks and interceptions at 1-0 to maintain Chelsea’s lead and for now, his blase attitude on the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch has not caused the Blues any problems. However, it may need to be addressed in the future because his teammates do not seem to possess the same sort of confidence in possession.
Gary Cahill – 7
Scored his penalty in the shootout, and as Arsenal searched for an equalising goal, Cahill was as resilient as ever in the face of a barrage of attacks by the Gunners, throwing himself in front of everything, as per usual. He will be kicking himself for not being able to command his area during Kolasinac’s equalising goal. He also won the opportunistic flick on for Moses’ goal.
Victor Moses – 8
A superb finish from close range by Moses to give Chelsea the lead. He offered a great option on the overlap and had Chelsea been more of an attacking threat throughout the game, then his incisive runs could have been of more use. His move to left wing-back late on in the game wasn’t a touch of tactical genius by Conte, it just showed Chelsea’s lack of cover in that position – wing-back signings are needed desperately if Chelsea are to compete.
Cesc Fabregas – 5
Strung together a few promising moves with his passing in behind Arsenal’s defence, but especially in the first-half, he contributed to Chelsea’s midfield being overrun as he failed to track runners or close down the man on the ball.
N’Golo Kante – 6
Kante’s efforts were opposite to that of Fabregas’s, as he tirelessly looked to close down Arsenal’s midfielders but it was passing that let him down as he surrendered possession all too often. A change of formation is needed to provide Kante with an adequate ball winning partner, whilst still facilitating the creativity of Fabregas – opposition have become wise to the 3-4-3, and if there is one manager I trust to pull off a drastic change in formation it would be Conte, with last season a shining example of what he’s capable of.
Marcos Alonso – 6
His defending was questionable at times, as he was constantly caught too tight to Cahill, allowing wingers to attack space out wide and then drive balls into the six-yard area. The tactic of fizzing the ball into Alonso to flick round the corner to the Chelsea attacking trio has also become too easy to defend against, and in the end, all Arsenal’s midfield had to do was drop off a bit deeper in order to retain possession.
Willian – 5
He was hardly in the game for large parts, and as this pre-season has shown us so vividly, it’s that should the midfield be overrun by the opposition then Chelsea’s creative forces become isolated and are unable to influence the game.
Michy Batshuayi – 6
It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but as a result of Willian and Pedro’s failure to get on the ball, Batshuayi found himself similarly isolated. Because he doesn’t possess the same unselfish work rate as Diego Costa, he wasn’t able to create chances out of nothing and bring his teammates into play through his own intuition.
Pedro – 4
Saw his shot well saved by Petr Cech in the first-half, but other than that he didn’t impact proceedings. His ludicrous challenge on Mohammed Elneny was yet another rash decision that has cost Chelsea against Arsenal, following Moses’ dive in the FA Cup final against the Gunners last season. He and Conte should just feel lucky that his sending off doesn’t affect their upcoming Premier League campaign.
Substitutes:
Alvaro Morata – 4
A dismal start to his Chelsea career, missing a penalty in his first competitive appearance. The Spaniard is still desperately short of match fitness, as Conte confirmed with his post-match comments. It’s far too early to judge the forward.
Antonio Rudiger – 4
Another poor competitive debut from one of Chelsea’s new signings, this time in the form of German centre-back Antonio Rudiger. He wasn’t played in his favoured position as a centre-back, and instead thrown in at right wing-back. This choice proved pivotal for Conte, as Rudiger failed to mark goal scorer and fellow debutant Kolasinac at the Arsenal free-kick.
Charly Musonda – 5
He was unlucky to be thrown on just after Arsenal’s equaliser because he was then expected to spearhead Chelsea’s attacks with very little time to get used to the tempo of the match.
