Chelsea downed Malmo 1-0 at Eleda Stadion after a goal from Hakim Ziyech.
James Robson was in Sweden to dish out his ratings to the Blues players...
Edouard Mendy - 5
Barely touched the ball, such was Chelsea’s total dominance.
Andreas Christensen - 7
Strong in the air when Malmo looked to gain territorial advantage by those means. Won everything that came near him.
Thiago Silva - 7
Cruised through as if wearing slippers, picking out passes as Chelsea utterly dominated possession. But did allow Antonio Colak to get on the wrong side of him for Malmo’s best chance.
Antonio Rudiger - 6
His biggest contribution was in danger of being the moment he wound up Colak just before the the Malmo forward nearly scored.
Cesar Azpilicueta - 6
Played high up the pitch and was in and around the Malmo penalty area to keep the pressure on the home side.
Jorginho - 8
Swept the ball around effortlessly and allowed Loftus-Cheek to push up in support of the forwards.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek - 8
Continues to impress with his quality on the ball. It was his pass that created Chelsea’s best chance of the first-half and he repeatedly opened up the Malmo defence.
Marcos Alonso - 7
The amount of times he finds himself in the centre forward position. Given Malmo’s lack of threat he did not need a second invitation to get into the box.
Hakim Ziyech - 7
Very lively – forcing Johan Dahlin into action with the directness of his play in the first half. Switched sides in the second and opened the scoring with a clinical finish.
Kai Havertz - 5
Should have done better when bursting through on goal in either half, but denied by Dahlin on each occasion. Needs to be more clinical.
Callum Hudson-Odoi - 7
Did not dominate in the manner Tuchel would have wanted in the first half. Moved to the right after the break and produced a perfectly-weighted cross for Ziyech’s goal.
Subs
Christian Pulisic (Ziyech, 74’) - 6
Very bright after making his long-awaited return. Might just have done enough to earn a start at the weekend.
Ross Barkley (Hudson-Odoi, 74’) - 5
Helped Chelsea maintain control and keep the pressure on Malmo’s rear-guard.
