Chelsea's Alvaro Morata provides assist but luckless in front of goal - Analysis of striker's performance against Bournemouth

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  • Eden Hazard’s strike was the difference as Chelsea beat Bournemouth 1-0 at Dean Court.

    Hazard rescued his side after a host of missed chances and an incorrectly disallowed goal for Alvaro Morata, with Cesar Azpilicueta ruled offside in error.

    Here, we look at Morata’s performance in-depth.

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    BASIC STATS

    Goals – 0

    Assists – 1

    Shots – 3

    Dribbles – 0

    Passes – 23

    Key passes – 2

    Pass Accuracy – 69.6%

    Touches – 37

    Aerials Won – 2

    EFFECTIVENESS

    Morata started the game brightly, moving into the right spaces and making threatening runs forward. His link-up play was decent as well, laying ball off for Cesc Fabregas whose shot was blocked.

    As the game progressed, he linked up with Hazard to good effect on numerous occasions and set Pedro up for a shot from the edge of the box as well. He even provided the assist for Hazard’s goal, clipping a ball over the top of the defence for the Belgian to finish.

    However, a glaring miss in the 24th minute set the tone for his game. Having been played in by Hazard, the Spaniard steered his effort past Begovic but wide of the target from a great position.

    Four minutes later, he was incorrectly denied a goal for offside. Then he turned brilliantly inside the box and fired a left-footed shot at goal but the Bournemouth custodian did well to deny him.

    Apart from his assist, his influence waned in the second half and he was replaced by Michy Batshuayi in the 79th minute.

    Alvaro Morata

    Alvaro Morata

    KEY MOMENTS

    24 mins – MISS! Eden Hazard latches on to a poor clearance from Asmir Begovic and the Belgian slides a ball through to Morata whose side-footed effort rolls wide of the near post.

    28 mins – David Luiz shoots from the edge of the box and hits Cesar Azpilicueta in front of goal. Morata slots in the loose ball but the flag is raised for offside against Azpilicueta. Replays show the defender was probably just in line.

    34 mins – Morata makes a great turn just inside the box but his shot is well saved by Begovic.

    51 mins – Morata drops deep to receive the ball and finds himself crowded out but manages to clip a ball over Francis’ head for Hazard. The winger drives into the box and drills a low effort past Begovic at the near post.

    68 mins – Pedro plays a one-two with Morata and his shot from the edge of the box is straight at Begovic.

    Alvaro Morata

    Alvaro Morata

    OUR VERDICT – 6/10

    In a parallel universe, Morata is probably man of the match in this one with a hat-trick to his name but the reality is, that incredible miss in the 24th minute largely summed up his display.

    He put in another decent performance but just didn’t have the finishing touch and when he did, it was ruled offside to his misfortune. Good signs from the Spaniard but he should really have gotten on the score sheet against Bournemouth.

    All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com.

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