N’Golo Kante played brilliantly when Chelsea drew 1-1 against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium, Wednesday (28/4).
Kante appeared so solid in midfield. The French midfielder played very well in defense and emerged as the motor for the team’s attack which caused trouble for Madrid players.
Kante became the player whose performance was the most prominent in midfield in the Chelsea vs Madrid match. He drowned the names of great midfielders like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in the Madrid camp.
Kante plays more in the right area of the game. That position has proven to make Kante a difficult player for Zinedine Zidane’s squad.
Reporting from Squawka, Kante became the player who was most involved in duels with opposing players in this match. The player who successfully delivered Leicester City as well as the Premier League was recorded to have made 21 duels.
Another interesting note was also made by Kante in this match. Despite playing as a box to box midfielder, he was recorded as being able to pass six times.
Kante’s nicks were more than any other player during the 90 minutes. He outperformed teammate Christian Pulisic who was able to beat five opponents and all Madrid players who only made five moves past the Blues players in this match.
That slick performance made Kante named the best player by UEFA in the Madrid vs Chelsea match. His hard work in defense and attack also made Chelsea play so comfortably even though he was a visiting team.
Chelsea actually deserved to win this match because they had performed so well. However, poor finishing against the opponent’s goal meant that Chelsea could only score one goal in this match.
Chelsea’s goal that put them ahead 1-0 was scored by Pulisic in the 14th minute. It’s just that Madrid can equalize through Karim Benzema’s volley in the middle of the first half.
In this match, Werner actually got several scoring opportunities. Based on ESPN data, the German striker got four chances and two of them were right at the goal.
One of the opportunities Werner got should have even been converted into goals. This is because the former RB Leipzig player has only to face Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Werner got the golden opportunity when the game had only been running for 10 minutes. Christian Pulisic throws a low pass to Werner, who stands unaccompanied in the penalty box.
The ball can be cheated by Werner. However, Werner’s execution was too directed towards Courtois, who swiftly blocked the ball using his feet.
If Werner’s chance could be a goal then Chelsea would be 2-0 up after only 14 minutes of action. Four minutes after Werner failed to score, Pulisic found Madrid’s goal after beating Courtois first.
