Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly had a difficult outing against Manchester City as the club were eliminated in the Carabao Cup third round last night.
The London giants have been in a poor run of form over the past few weeks and it continued at the Etihad Stadium yesterday. Two quick goals from Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez sealed a 2-0 win for the hosts.
In both instances, Koulibaly was at fault. Mahrez’s free-kick put City up front in the 53rd minute. The Algerian fired his effort over the head of Koulibaly – the only man from the Chelsea wall who did not jump.
Five minutes later, Alvarez doubled City’s advantage. Koulibaly was spotted ball-watching from Edouard Mendy’s parry. The striker tapped home into an empty net before the Senegalese could intercept.
The 31-year-old finished the game with one blocked shot, four clearances and three interceptions. However, he won just two of his duels and lost possession nine times. He was let down by his concentration.
The central defender was probably lucky to avoid a sending off for his heavy last-man tackle on Jack Grealish.
Koulibaly has had a tough introduction to English football. He came with a big reputation from Serie A with Napoli but has struggled to adapt to the added intensity and has been poor with his decision-making.
After yesterday’s performance at the Etihad, manager Graham Potter will most certainly bench him against Newcastle United at the weekend. Eddie Howe’s team are in sparkling form at the current point of time.
It will be another tough test for the London club away from home in the Premier League. Thiago Silva, who has been a stand-out performer, should be reinstated into the central defence to deal with Newcastle’s threat.
Chelsea are already five points behind the final Champions League spot and Potter needs a huge performance from his side on Saturday evening to avoid losing further ground before the World Cup interval.
