The return of Jose Mourinho has ended in defeat to Chelsea as they finally get off the mark off in the UCL by picking up 3 points.

A controlled and professional performance overall gives us confidence going into Liverpool on Saturday.

A shaky last 15 minutes but the team held out well overall to see the game out and grind out a valuable clean sheet.

Sanchez: 6.5

A decent game overall for Sanchez , distribution was good and claimed crosses really well.

Gusto: 7

Great defensively and supported Neto within the attack. A complete contrast to Brightons game on saturday and played well.

Chalobah: 7.5

A leaders performance and defended extremely well especially aerially towards the last bits of the game.

Badiashile: 8

A fantastic return after injury and stepped up when needed. Arguably should start the liverpool game on Saturday with a performance like that put in. Confidence like this should be maintained.

Cucurella: 7.5

A wonderful performance from our starting LB. Nullified the threat from the left side and held his ground.

Caicedo: 8.5

Absolutely phenomenal once again from our midfield maestro by covering a lot of ground and winning a lot ground duels as well as aerial especially down the flanks

Enzo: 7.5

A difficult game added with the spice of Benfica fans giving him a kicking and further aggression. Handled it well overall but there always room for more improvement.

Neto: 8.5 (MOTM)

A standout performer today. Everything came through Neto offensively. His work rate off the ball needs to be identified more by fans and praised because without him, 0 openings occur for the opposition. A wonderful teasing cross into the box for the only goal of the game.

Buonanotte: 5.5

Flashes of good moments but struggled to get into the hame overall.

Garnacho: 5.5

A few moments where he skipped past a few players but end product wasn’t there.

George: 2

Struggled a lot to make any sort of impact during the game once again. Feel a bit sorry for him because he is asked to do a role which isn’t his game at all.

Maresca: 6.5

An injury hit squad means the starting 11’s will always get scrutinised. Arguably a must win and a vital game especially since the Bayern result. You would have expected Maresca to play his strongest possible 11, the likes of James, Estevao and Joao Pedro remained benched…. Made the subs at the right time and given the squad hes been given, he is making the most of it.

Subs:

Gittens: 1

Moments were absolutely there for him when he came on but struggled to produce anything which is worrying. A January loan for him may be wild to say but it seems the best to get the best out of him.

Pedro: N/A

James: 6

Made a couple of crucial last ditch tackles within injury time.

Achaempong: N/A

Estevao: 5.5

In transition took a lot of pressure off us and was winning crucial fouls in around each side of the box.