Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Man City: Wasteful Blues Fall in FA Cup Final

Chelsea’s miserable season continued as they were beaten 1–0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea were undone by Antoine Semenyo on the day. | IMAGO/News Images

Chelsea’s hopes of salvaging what has been a turbulent 2025–26 season with a piece of silverware were ended in the FA Cup final on Saturday, as they were beaten 1–0 by Manchester City.

The Blues produced a disciplined and resilient display for long spells, frustrating City until the 72nd minute, when Antoine Semenyo struck—flicking in Erling Haaland’s low cross to secure the win and end City’s recent run of final defeats, having lost each of the previous two years.

Calum McFarlane’s side grew into the contest as it progressed, even edging City in possession and shots after the break, but they lacked cutting edge in the final third and failed to create clear-cut chances.

While not a poor performance overall, the defeat highlighted many of Chelsea’s familiar issues this season: a lack of leaders in key moments, limited output from wide areas, Cole Palmer—despite working hard—failing to provide the decisive spark that once placed him among the game’s elite and Liam Delap missing a late sitter off the bench.

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The Problem That Won’t Go Away

Marc Cucurella was poor. | IMAGO/News Images

Chelsea’s lack of output from wide areas has been their Achilles heel all season, and while Calum McFarlane set up his side without natural width against City, it might have been assumed the issue would disappear under the circumstances.

It didn’t.

In the absence of Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho—both introduced late on but offering little impact—Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto were instead tasked with providing the creativity from wide positions. Both, particularly Gusto, worked tirelessly up and down the flank, but their end product left much to be desired.

Gusto completed just two accurate crosses but failed with a further six, despite often finding himself in promising space, while Cucurella didn’t register a single cross, frequently driving forward with enthusiasm but lacking quality in the final ball.

Addressing their issues in wide areas is a must heading into the summer.

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Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Manchester City (3-4-2-1)

Joao Pedro worked hard. | IMAGO

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Robert Sánchez—7.0: Had very little to do until late on, but produced a couple of tidy saves when called upon. Couldn’t do much about Semenyo’s brilliant goal.

CB: Wesley Fofana—7.1: Led the way for Chelsea in defensive contributions with eight. A solid and assured performance throughout.

CB: Levi Colwill—6.4: Chelsea looked much more assured defensively with the composed Colwill in the side, thanks to his ability to play out from the back. He has been a huge miss this term.

CB: Jorrel Hato—6.6: Contributed four defensive actions and got forward well, often ahead of Cucurella in front of him when possible. Unlucky that his interception fell to City in the build-up to their goal.

RM: Malo Gusto—6.5: Was up and down the right flank throughout and generally neutralised Jérémy Doku. Should have offered more quality with his final ball in attack, though.

CM: Reece James—6.2: Pretty much absent throughout. The game passed him by and he was unusually wasteful in possession.

CM: Moisés Caicedo—6.4: Was tidy in possession, but uncharacteristically outmuscled in his duels in the middle of the park.

LM: Marc Cucurella—6.4: Ran around like a man possessed as usual, but was caught out of position for Semenyo’s goal and offered little to nothing going forward.

AM: Cole Palmer—6.6: Showed glimpses of his quality with some nice turns in the pocket, but lacked final product, as has been the case too often in recent months. Put in an excellent shift with his work off the ball.

AM: Enzo Fernández—6.7: Perhaps fortunate not to have been sent off for a wild challenge on Bernardo Silva. Struggled to get involved in the final third.

ST: João Pedro—5.7: A tough task for the Brazilian leading the line alone, but he held the ball up well and ran the channels valiantly to stretch City on the counter, particularly in the first half.

SUB: Pedro Neto (74’ for Cucurella)—6.3

SUB: Liam Delap (83’ for James)—N/A

SUB: Alejandro Garnacho (86’ for Pedro)—N/A

Subs not used: Filip Jörgensen (GK), Josh Acheampong, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Andrey Santos, Dário Essugo.

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What These Ratings Tell Us

Palmer showed glimpses of his magic against City. | Getty/The FA

• Cole Palmer is really, really struggling, so much so that his place at the World Cup could even be in jeopardy. There were occasional neat turns and tidy passes, but too often he looked short of ideas and confidence, although his excellent work rate deserves plenty of credit. Unfortunately, Chelsea need more than that right now.
• Marc Cucurella looks busy, but isn’t always effective. His eagerness and aggression often compensate for sloppy defensive fundamentals, while going forward he gets into good positions with plenty of enthusiasm but rarely knows what to do when he gets there. There is a strong case to be made that Jorrel Hato should be Chelsea’s starting left back.
• Is Robert Sánchez really the problem? The much-maligned goalkeeper has been vastly improved in recent months, particularly with the ball at his feet, and is now more willing to clear his lines. His shot-stopping ability is also strong, with the scoreline potentially far worse had he not been involved.

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The Numbers That Explain Chelsea’s Narrow Defeat

• Just 22% of Chelsea’s crosses found their target throughout the entire match. Had they been more precise in those wide areas—particularly Malo Gusto—the game may well have been there for the taking.
• Chelsea had more shots and more touches in the opposition box than City in the second half, but still never really looked like scoring.
• Ignoring their 7–0 thrashing of lower-league Port Vale, the Blues have now scored just three goals in their last nine games in all competitions. João Pedro is becoming increasingly isolated, while the lack of options behind him is a serious concern. In hindsight, loaning Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich for the season now looks like a poor decision.

Statistic	Chelsea	Man City
Possession	44%	56%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.83	0.93
Total Shots	7	9
Shots on Target	1	4
Big Chances	0	1
Passing Accuracy	83%	87%
Fouls Committed	15	13
Corners	4	4

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