Player ratings: Chelsea breeze past Preston in the FA Cup third round after first half scare

Chelsea secured an, in the end, comfortable 4-0 win against Preston North End to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup, courtesy of goals from Armando Broja, Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling, and Enzo Fernandez.

It wasn’t a pretty first half, though was a much improved second 45, and we’re in Monday night’s draw, which is what matters.

Djordje Petrovic – 7

Hard to judge tonight with somewhat little to do, but a few casual saves from Preston half-chances, and decent enough distribution of the ball.

Alfie Gilchrist – 6

For his first start in a Chelsea shirt, Alfie Gilchrist was solid on that right hand side this evening in the hour that he was given by Pochettino.

Over 70 touches of the ball with a 94% completion of his 66 attempted passes, showing his confidence in being involved in our buildup play.

Axel Disasi – 5

Unsetlled? I didn’t think Disasi was overly assured in his performance tonight.

Whilst he wasn’t explicitly ‘bad’, he just wasn’t assuring for my liking. However, he’s still been good for the most part of the season so hopefully tonight’s an off night at most.

Levi Colwill – 6

Comfortable overall is what I’d say to describe Levi Colwill this evening.

One or two occasions we saw him beaten but all in all he won eight from nine aerial duels up against some tall, physical Preston attackers.

Malo Gusto – 8

I hope I’m not the only one who thought it, but was Malo Gusto great tonight or what? A great assist for Broja, played on both flanks, and just all round was really tidy in everything he did.

He’s fast becoming one of my favourite players.

Moises Caicedo – 7

Caicedo was good tonight, solid and did what we all know he’s good at to a great level. Five long balls completed, added into an overall passing accuracy of 93% from 73 passes attempted. He’s superb.

Enzo Fernandez – 7

A lot more of an Enzo performance we’re used to, with 104 touches, and seven from 12 long balls completed – topped off with a goal, despite an incredibly long VAR check. Glad he’s back.

Raheem Sterling – 8

Football is a funny game, because at half time I’d have given Sterling a five.

However, he was absolutely superb in the second half, scoring a great free kick and getting himself an assist too.

Not only that, but a total of three big chances created – we could’ve had six or seven in the end.

Cole Palmer – 6

A solitary key pass, and very unlucky to come out of the game without a goal, with the chance he had given to him by Enzo Fernandez in the first half.

It’s a theme with Palmer that he’ll blow hot and cold, which is to be expected with his youth, but overall was decent enough tonight for me.

Mykhailo Mudryk – 5

I had high hopes that Mudryk had a chance to have a really good game this evening, but unfortunately he was pretty quiet, and taken off after an hour.

However, with that in mind, I suppose we could expect to see him start against Middlesborough in midweek?

Armando Broja – 6

If I’m honest, his goal saved what was overall a pretty quiet performance, but it’ll do.

Just the 28 touches in 75 minutes tonight, and visibly less involvement than that of what we’re used to from Nicolas Jackson, however he took his goal well with a great header, and it’ll boost his confidence at least.

Mauricio Pochettino – 6

A poor first half but much improved second, so kudos to Poch for livening the players up, but I still have my concerns for now. 

Noni Madueke – 6

Probably the most involved of our substitutes tonight and I’m still disappointed he didn’t start. Hopefully we see him Tuesday.

Thiago Silva – 6

Defensively not tested, but scorer of a great header that put us 2-0 up. Oozes class.

Deivid Washington – 5

Looked relatively lively and keen to get involved, but I didn’t see enough to give much more than the five.

Conor Gallagher – 6

Decent, with a few nice turns and a lot of involvement going forward. In just 15 minutes he won three from five duels and did also complete 24 from 24 passes.

Michael Golding – N/A

Twitter – @Chelsh31