Not just Sanchez: Maresca must now drop 4/10 Chelsea star who got ‘bullied’

Chelsea suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat away from home at the hands of Manchester City on Saturday evening.

Although the Blues took the lead at the Etihad Stadium, they could not capitalise on their early advantage, allowing City to get back into the game before the Premier League champions killed them off in the second half.

It was a bizarre way for Chelsea to take the lead, which they did so in the third minute of the game. New Citizens signing Abdukodir Khusanov misplaced a poor header aimed towards City goalkeeper Ederson. Nicolas Jackson pounced on the loose ball and promptly squared it to Noni Madueke who made it 1-0.

City equalised just three minutes before half-time, with Josko Gvardiol pouncing on a loose ball after a one-vs-one in the penalty box. They took the lead in a calamitous way from a Chelsea point of view, with Erling Haaland getting in behind and lobbing goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who was horribly caught off his line.

Just as they did before half-time, City scored three minutes before full-time, this time through Phil Foden. The Englishman got on the end of a layoff from Haaland, before running through and slotting home relatively unchallenged.

It was a disappointing day’s work for the West Londoners, who failed to capitalise on the early advantage. Sanchez had a particularly poor afternoon.

Sanchez’s stats vs. Man City

It has been a really poor season so far for Spanish goalkeeper Sanchez, but his outing at the Etihad Stadium was perhaps his most disappointing of the lot. He looked all at sea against a City attack who could have scored four or five on another day.

Sanchez had a close call against new City man Omar Marmoush, but his strike was ruled out for offside. Undoubtedly his worst mistake was for Haaland’s goal, where he was caught in no man’s land off his line, meaning all the Norwegian striker had to do was lob him from 15 yards.

He received a 3/10 for his performance from Malik Ouzia, a journalist for The Standard. He described Sanchez’s position for the Haaland strike as ‘baffling’, before explaining that it is a ‘miracle that he keeps his shirt’ in the Chelsea goal.

Indeed, his Sofascore stats from full-time show just how poor the Blues number one performed. He prevented -0.68 goals and made one error that led to a goal. On the ball, he completed just eight from 26 attempted long balls.

With Filip Jorgensen also an option for Enzo Maresca between the posts, it remains to be seen if Sanchez will be dropped for Chelsa’s next outing. Someone in a similar boat is defender Levi Colwill.

Colwill’s stats vs. Man City

Colwill was perhaps just as bad, if not arguably worse, than Sanchez against the Citizens. Football content creator Rory suggested Haaland “bullied” the Englishman, a fine example being the fact the City star held Colwill up before playing Foden in for City’s third.

His rating from Ouzia was only slightly better than Sanchez’s, with the Chelsea defender earring himself a 4/10. The Standard journalist also agreed with the fact he was ‘bullied’, and criticised him for a mistake that almost gifted Haaland another goal.

Colwill’s stats from the game were a disappointing summary of his evening’s work in East Manchester. The England international won just one out of three aerial duels, made one error leading to a shot and lost the ball eight times.

Just as he does in goal, Maresca has options in defence if he wishes to drop Colwill. The Italian could bring in young Josh Acheampong, Frenchman Axel Disasi or former City academy man Tosin Adarabioyo.

He certainly has a big decision to make ahead of the next game, with options available to him, and it would be hard to argue against a decision to drop Colwill. Whatever Maresca chooses to do, he will hope his side can bounce back with a win next time out.