Chelsea player ratings vs Man City with two 4/10s as Palmer struggles in loss | Football | Sport

April 12, 2026 2,418

FBL-ENG-PR-CHELSEA-MAN CITY

Cole Palmer struggled against his old club (Image: Getty)

Chelsea suffered a significant setback in their pursuit of Champions League qualification with Manchester City narrowing the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal courtesy of a commanding 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. The humbling loss leaves Liam Rosenior’s side four points adrift of fifth-placed Liverpool with just six matches of the league campaign remaining.

The first half was a closely contested affair but City overwhelmed Chelsea in the second half. Nico O’Reilly nodded home from close range before Marc Guehi finished superbly into the bottom corner six minutes later. The third arrived when Jeremy Doku dispossessed Moises Caicedo drove the ball into the bottom corner. Express Sport rates and slates the Blues…

Chelsea player ratings vs Man City

Robert Sanchez – 6

Performs admirably in the opening period to deny a point-blank attempt from Bernardo Silva. Powerless to prevent the first goal but perhaps could have performed slightly better for Guehi’s strike.

Faced a testing assignment against the elusive and rapid Jeremy Doku. Handled himself reasonably well overall against Doku but Gusto was the player initially tracking Guehi for his goal.

Engaged in a physical duel with Erling Haaland which is invariably a challenging task. While he didn’t prevail in every contest, he performed admirably to apply pressure on the threatening Norwegian. Claimed some vital headers in the latter stages.

Impressed throughout. Appeared composed when in possession and was frequently instructed to advance high up the field. Defended exceptionally well at centre-back. A few may have questioned his selection there when the line-ups were revealed but the Dutchman delivered.

An excellent finish early on but he was fractionally offside. Provided a menace in an attacking capacity but appeared to be more cautious than usual.

Chelsea v Manchester City - Premier League

Moises Caicedo was poor against Man City (Image: Getty)

Captain for the afternoon but he began the match in a truly careless manner. City’s aggressive press exposed the Ecuadorian on several occasions and his distribution was wayward. That manifested in the latter stages where the sluggish Caicedo was dispossessed by Doku, who struck in City’s third of the night.

The Brazilian was positioned very deep, even further back than normal. On many occasions he essentially acted as a centre-back alongside Fofana, with Hato pushing forward to press. Santos distributed the ball with great composure and handled City’s high press effectively. However, Santos was responsible for marking O’Reilly for his goal.

Picked up an unnecessary early booking for petulantly kicking the ball away. The Brazilian found it difficult on the right-hand side. He was unable to make any meaningful impression on the match and surrendered possession on occasions rather carelessly. Should have done more to stop Cherki’s cross for O’Reilly’s goal.

Created Chelsea’s first opening of the match but fired against the side-netting from a narrow angle. Subdued.

Began brilliantly. Operating from the left flank, Neto was causing City considerably more trouble than any other Chelsea forward. Less influential after the break.

Found it hard to get into the game. He did well to play it to Cucurella for the disallowed goal and was unfortunate that the flag was raised on the far side. Subdued.