Chelsea player ratings: Mount and Kante dominate in midfield but Rudiger fails to shine in rare chance vs Newcastle

N’GOLO KANTE and Mason Mount stole the show as Chelsea secured a 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Frank Lampard’s men won their fifth game on the bounce after an own goal by Federico Fernandez gave them an early lead.

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N’Golo Kante orchestrated Chelsea’s attacks from the midfieldCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Tammy Abraham doubled Chelsea’s tally in the second half to seal the deal.

Here’s how Simon Phillips rated each Chelsea player on the day…

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Edouard Mendy – 7

He always brings that confidence to Chelsea’s back line and he continued with that today.

Mendy certainly wasn’t busy this afternoon but he did whatever he was called to do and showed good distribution again.

Reece James – 7

James is creating a nice partnership on the right with Ziyech.

He was dangerous in attack and solid at the back once again this afternoon.

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Antonio Rudiger failed to impress against Newcastle Credit: PA:Press Association

Antonio Rudiger – 5

Didn’t really take his rare starting chance and looked dodgy at the back and in possession.

He doesn’t bring the same forward-thinking progressive passing that Thiago Silva has.

Kurt Zouma – 7

Another comfortable and solid performance from Zouma, who always looked to make things happen from deep a bit more than his defensive partner.

Ben Chilwell – 6

He did very well on Chelsea’s first goal forcing the own goal and put in another consistent performance.

It was more an afternoon of doing his job rather than anything more standout.

N’Golo Kante – 9

Chelsea’s captain for the afternoon was just a cut above the rest today in the deeper role.

He was all over the pitch and was even orchestrating Chelsea’s attacks from deep.

Mateo Kovacic – 8

He seems to be enjoying the freer and more advanced role that he is playing at the moment and put in another decent performance today.

Good on the ball, quick in possession, and good energy getting up and back.

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Mason Mount put in a good shift in the midfield for ChelseaCredit: AP:Associated Press

Mason Mount – 9

He really enjoys playing in the central role and was behind everything Chelsea did well, including a lovely cross for Chelsea’s first goal.

In the first half, Mount actually had more touches than the whole Newcastle team he was that dominating.

Hakim Ziyech – 8

The man Chelsea fans are rightfully referring to as ‘a cheat code’ was full of creativity and class again today, the way he was pinging passes around long and short is a joy to watch.

Tammy Abraham – 7

Worked hard in attack but his touch looked off at times. He did provide a great finish for Chelsea’s second goal after some fine work from Werner.

Timo Werner – 6

His pace is always a real threat out wide and running in behind, but he was guilty of missing chances today especially one real sitter in the first half, and then another one early in the first half.

But he made up for missed chances with the run with the ball he made for Abraham’s goal.

SUBS

Callum Hudosn-Odoi for Werner (75mins) – 6

Lively cameo from Hudson-Odoi who looked to make things happen late on.

Emerson Palmieri for Chilwell (81 mins) – N/A

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