Chelsea 2-0 Burnley: Player ratings as Azpilicueta and Alonso give Thomas Tuchel first Blues win

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Goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso saw Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0 in the Premier League’s early kick off on Sunday, earning Thomas Tuchel his first win as Blues manager.

After a slow start, the home side picked up the pace and found an opener, Azpilicueta firing in just before half time after fine work from Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Chelsea continued to dominate the game in the second half and doubled their lead thanks to a moment of magic from recalled left wing back Alonso. The Spaniard brought down Christian Pulisic’s cross, took a touch and volleyed into the roof of the net to make it 2-0 with just over five minutes to go.

Now, let’s get into some player ratings.

Azpilicueta scores the first goal in the Tuchel era Azpilicueta scores the first goal in the Tuchel era
Azpilicueta scores the first goal in the Tuchel era | Pool/Getty Images

Edouard Mendy (GK) – 6/10 – Virtually had nothing to do, with the Clarets failing to register a single shot on target. Easy day at the office.

Cesar Azpilicueta (CB) – 7/10 – Solid defensive outing and capped his performance off with the first goal of the Tuchel era in the first half.

Thiago Silva (CB) – 7/10 – Good, experienced showing from the Brazilian, making defending look easy with four interceptions and calmly picking out passes into midfield.

Antonio Rudiger (CB) – 6/10 – Very little for the German to do apart from moving the ball along and was overshadowed by his defensive colleagues.

Marcos Alonso fires home for 2-0Marcos Alonso fires home for 2-0
Marcos Alonso fires home for 2-0 | Julian Finney/Getty Images

Callum Hudson-Odoi (RWB) – 8/10 – Another brilliant game for the Englishman, showing fantastic discipline in defensive duties while also providing creative spark with threatening crosses. Unlucky not to score as he hit the woodwork but showed great awareness to grab the assist for the opener.

Jorginho (CM) – 6/10 – Couldn’t find his passing range for the most part but was solid enough and might’ve had an assist if Alonso hadn’t messed up his header in the first half.

Mateo Kovacic (CM) – 7/10 – The Croatian ran the show for large parts, spraying the ball around really well and achieving a pass accuracy of 89%.

Marcos Alonso (LWB) – 6/10 – Looked off the pace on his first appearance since September, but produced a quite unbelievable goal with five to go, volleying into the roof of the net after a lovely bit of skill.

Another great game for Mason Mount Another great game for Mason Mount
Another great game for Mason Mount | Pool/Getty Images

Mason Mount (RF) – 7/10 – Looked sharp and bright as his usual creative self and was even better after being moved infield in the second half, racking up three key passes.

Tammy Abraham (ST) – 5/10 – A very quiet game, making just nine touches and taking no shots before being hooked off at the break.

Timo Werner (LF) – 6/10 – Looked devoid of confidence, notably fluffing his lines from a Hudson-Odoi pull back on 30 minutes. Made good runs down the channels, but couldn’t test the goalkeeper.

Christian Pulisic – 7/10 – Played centrally in the forward line and looked very bright, making runs out wide and moving the defence around with his sharp and unpredictable movement. Capped his game off with the assist for the second.

Reece James – 6/10 – Provided an instant impact, forcing Pope into a good save straight away. Kept on creating down the right.

Kai Havertz – 6/10

James Tarkowski having words with Tammy Abraham James Tarkowski having words with Tammy Abraham
James Tarkowski having words with Tammy Abraham | Pool/Getty Images

Nick Pope (GK) – 7/10 – The England international looked very assured and read the game well, showing good handling from crosses and making a few good stops, and couldn’t do much about the goals.

Matt Lowton (RB) – 6/10 – Marshalled Chelsea’s left hand side and carried out his defensive responsibilities well, but couldn’t quite execute balls into the channels and lost the ball too often.

James Tarkowski (CB) – 7/10 – A characteristically solid and no-nonsense performance. The centre back kept Werner quiet throughout and barely put a foot wrong with four ball recoveries and four clearances.

Ben Mee (CB) – 6/10 – Defended well throughout but was lucky not to concede an own goal as his goalkeeper saved him with a smart stop.

Erik Pieters (LB) – 5/10 – Really struggled to keep Hudson-Odoi at bay and his job didn’t get any easier when Reece James got game time. A tough one for the Dutchman.

Dwight McNeil couldn't influence the game Dwight McNeil couldn't influence the game
Dwight McNeil couldn’t influence the game | Pool/Getty Images

Robbie Brady (RM) – 5/10 – Was defensively solid against Alonso, regularly outmuscling the Spaniard, but couldn’t find his creative side, failing to register a key pass before coming off.

Jack Cork (CM) – 5/10 – Was anonymous in Burnley’s midfield, making just 35 touches and attempting 22 passes from central midfield.

Ashley Westwood (CM) – 6/10 – The ever present held the midfield shape well and played a few good balls up to Chris Wood but just couldn’t get into the game as much as he would’ve liked.

Dwight McNeil (LM) – 5/10 – Didn’t have the same impact when his side beat Aston Villa, with Hudson-Odoi and Azpilicueta proving too much for him to get past.

FBL-ENG-PR-CHELSEA-BURNLEYFBL-ENG-PR-CHELSEA-BURNLEY
Chris Wood struggled alongside Matej Vydra on Sunday | ANDREW COULDRIDGE/Getty Images

Chris Wood (ST) – 5/10 – Held the ball up well in the first half, but saw so little of it that he could hardly make an impact at all before being forced off with injury on the hour mark.

Matej Vydra (ST) – 3/10 – Really not much to say on the Czech’s performance. Went off on 57 minutes having made just 14 touches with a pass accuracy of 40%.

Jay Rodriguez – 5/10

Johann Gudmundsson – 5/10

Joel Mumbongo – N/A

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