Chelsea's player ratings in wacky EFL Cup win over Leicester City

Chelsea needed until extra-time to figure out how to unlock Leicester City. Turns out, them having 10 men for half an hour helps. After conceding two cheap goals, a four goal rally is enough to boost the player ratings.

Take a breath, and relax. Chelsea won. Frantic, panicky, jittery… all describe this match.

Rating the players after the first half would have been mightily different. Still sloppy in defence, Chelsea showed passion and desire after falling behind. Antonio Conte’s half-time speeches have worked wonders, but he must find a way to kill off games.

Goalkeeper

Asmir Begovic

GK, Bosnia and Herzegovina

5The Blues should have two very good goalies in their team, at least on paper. Yet both Begovic and Thibaut Courtois are struggling. Against Leicester the Bosnian should have done better for both Leicester goals. He made a crucial save at 2-2, but flapped around as Okazaki kept his composure. He is not much better with his feet than Courtois,, almost letting Jamie Vardy nip the ball from him towards the end.Next: Defence

Defence

Marcos Alonso

LB, Spain

6Let’s give Alonso the benefit of the doubt for Leicester’s first goal. He made a bad pass near the halfway line. This led to a counter that Cesar Azpilicueta and Begovic both had chances to stifle. A fantastic cross from the Spaniard early on should have lead to a goal, but Michy Batshuayi was slow in reading the play. Decent debut, but expect Antonio Conte to reinstate Branislav Ivanovic into the team against Arsenal.

Gary Cahill

CB, England

5Regains a mark for a well-taken headed goal. When Chelsea bought David Luiz the main question was who he would partner with until Zouma returns. Cahill got the nod, if only due to John Terry’s injury. Against Liverpool the pair played serviceably. But against Leicester, Cahill had a particularly bad game. He should not be attempting the long passes, despite the fact Luiz seemed willing to offload that duty onto him. Cahill made numerous mistakes, including an awful touch letting Ahmed Musa through on goal. Captain for the night, but showed no leadership.

David Luiz

CB, Brazil

5He is well-established as a phenomenal passer, and he showed off his full range with both feet against Leicester. Unfortunately, he also demonstrated his even more well-established defensive frailties. He was constantly caught under the ball, seemingly misjudging the flight or bounce of the ball too often. He had good pace to cover for Gary Cahill once or twice, but was also hugely outpaced by Vardy, leading to a yellow card. Chelsea need Kurt Zouma back.

Cesar Azpilicueta

LB, Spain

Yeah, he was that good otherwise.

Midfield

Nemanja Matic

CM, Serbia

5.5This was not his worst game of the season, so credit for that. He is too slow to cover defensively for Fabregas’ lack of defensive awareness. When Nathaniel Chalobah came on Matic was pushed further forward. Yet again he showed he had no place being in the attacking third. One thing he does offer: an aerial bumper in the middle of the park. He can repel opposition goal kicks, especially as most centre-midfielders are a lot smaller than him.

Cesc Fabregas

CM, Spain

8.5The hardest of all the Chelsea players to grade in the ratings. Yes, he scored the two winning goals, both fantastically well-taken. Perhaps it was the lack of movement up front but he only seemed to play a handful of long balls over the top (including one Pedro should have finished). He can not play in a two-man midfield. He is too slow to make up the ground when players run at him with pace. The Spaniard was largely invisible until late in the second half. He came to life when Nathaniel Chalobah came on, allowing him to move further forward. Maybe I’m being too hard on him. Two goals and an assist speaks for itself really.Next: Attack

Attack

Pedro

W, Spain

7Lively as always, he should have scored from Fabregas’ ball over the top but fluffed his lines. He had the ball in the net, but was offsides by the smallest of margins. He has the tendency to be a bit careless in possession and could do with not being in fifth gear ALL THE TIME. He gave the ball away for Leicester’s second goal and didn’t offer Alonso any help defensively. Solid game overall.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

ST, England

5.5Spoke before the game about taking his opportunities, but failed to do so. He shows brief glimpses of fantastic talent but then drifts out of the game. At one point he muscled his way through two Leicester defenders, winning a corner. His positioning often shows his inexperience playing striker, specifically how little time he spent next to Batshuayi. Played more as a centre-attacking midfielder, he needs to either drop deeper to get into the game more or push up to give Batshuayi someone to play off.

Michy Batshuayi

ST, Belgium

6Batshuayi has terrific movement for a striker and ball control is normally good. Against Leicester he had a poor outing. He had a free header he should have scored, and could have scored from an Alonso cross had he been on his toes. Chalk this down to a lack of game-time. He needs more regular minutes to progress. Wes Morgan is a big man and provided him with his most physical test yet.

Victor Moses

W, Nigeria

7.5Moses is not as defensively inclined as Willian but his first touch is always more positive. He is constantly looking to drive past the opposition full-back. The Nigerian is pressuring Conte hard to start him over Willian. While it will not necessarily against Arsenal it could come in the near future. A great outing against Leicester will have done him the world of good, as he provided a strong, assured outlet down the right.Next: Substitutes

Substitutes

Diego Costa

ST, Spain

8Terrific performance from the bench. Costa came onto the pitch and exploded, linking up with Batshuayi within seconds to create a chance. A brilliant pass to Eden Hazard set up Fabregas’ winning goal. The Spaniard did, however, have two or three very good chances to score. He should have put the game to bed before extra time.

Eden Hazard

W, Belgium

8When he plays relaxed, he really is a sensational player. Coming off the bench he added purposeful running and brilliant link-up play – best demonstrated by his pass to Fabregas. The biggest hope is that he plays like this against Arsenal, not the Hazard we saw (or didn’t see) against Liverpool.

Nathaniel Chalobah

W, Sierra Leone

8Finally, Nathaniel Chalobah gets his debut for Chelsea. Coming on in the 80th minute while the game was tied at 2-2 showed the faith Conte has in him. His introduction to the game allowed Fabregas to push forwards and be more creative. He looked comfortable on the ball and was willing to try the 40-yard pass to spread the play. Next time he gets an opportunity to play (which should be soon) he needs to drive the play more. Hopefully he is playing alongside N’Golo Kante, allowing him more freedom to push up.Next: Manager

Manager

Antonio Conte

Manager, Italy

8.5Nemanja Matic should not be starting, but that’s an issue for another piece. Credit to the Italian for changing players and giving debuts, and being willing to start in an attacking 4-2-4. Defensive errors, more than anything, led to Chelsea being behind. Antonio Conte could have done little to prevent those. He made the adjustments necessary to turn the game in favour of the Blues.Next: Mikel John Obi has run his course at Chelsea after decade of success

Who stood out for you over the 120 minutes at King Power Stadium? Would you have rated any of the Blues higher or lower? Let us know below or on Twitter!