Goodbye Sarriball, hello Sarri-bore?
Chelsea showed a different face, an incredibly defensive one, but they couldn’t quite pip Manchester City in a Carabao Cup final that went all the way.
There were only three shots on target in 120 minutes of an intense and often absorbing encounter that completely lost its way in the drudgery of extra-time.
The flashpoint came at the end when a hobbled Kepa Arrizabalaga humiliated Maurizio Sarri by staying on the pitch despite Willy Caballero’s number being called.
The egg was on both Kepa and his manager as Sergio Aguero’s weak penalty slipped through his grasp, before City went on to lift the Carabao Cup by 4-3 in the shootout. Our Chelsea ratings are below …
CHELSEA (4-3-3)
Kepa Arrizabalaga – Point-blank refusal to obey his manager was a painful act of insubordination. Saved one penalty, should have been two 4
Cesar Azpilicueta – Double dishing of Sterling and then Sane, when the German came on and the pair switched sides. Coped admirably 7
David Luiz – Generally a sound performance, apart from whipping away Bernardo’s legs to earn a yellow. Did have a lot of support surrounding him 6
Antonio Rudiger – Resilient. But lunged at Silva, before hauling down Aguero, in one counter that showed why Sarri was so conservative 7
Emerson Palmieri – Welcome back, Emerson. Noticeably solid compared to the defensive disasterclass Marcos Alonso usually delivers 7
Jorginho – He may be a metronome, but he bobs along to the tempo of a dirge. You just want to shake some energy into him 5
Ross Barkley – Time seemed to slow down only for his heart rate to speed up when he curled a fine chance high and wide over the bar 6
N’Golo Kante – He opened up when the game opened up. Nostalgic to see him off the leash in both defence and attack. Did miss a good chance from 10 yards, though 7
Willian – Almost played as an auxiliary left-back at times. His usual work ethic was required and set Hazard away in a dangerous counter 7
Pedro – Not an ideas man, is he? A couple of nice moments but slow of thought when he enters the attacking third 6
Eden Hazard – No one could have done so much with so little in the first half, and laid on fine chances for Pedro and Kante. Pure joy to watch 9
SUBSTITUTES
Callum Hudson-Odoi (79′) – Sarri ignored the teenager for the bread-and-butter fixtures before throwing him on in a cup final. One lovely turn on Zinchenko and more energy than Pedro 7
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (86′) – Was his Bergkamp-esque turn and throughball to release Hazard really offside? Assistant should have let move play on – that’s the luxury of VAR. 7
Gonzalo Higuain (95′) – Ran around a bit, but both sides seemed content with penalties. N/A
