After Real Madrid's defeat, Joe Cole singles out two Chelsea players for criticism
Following Chelsea's defeat to Real Madrid, Joe Cole singled out two players for criticism.
Benzema scored two goals with his head in the first half before Kai Havertz equalized with a header of his own. However, Chelsea made a costly error shortly after halftime, allowing Benzema to complete his hat-trick.
Real re-established their two-goal lead after making two substitutions at halftime. Mendy, the goalkeeper, collected the ball more than 30 yards from his goal.
Senegal's star attempted to pass to Rudiger, but his pass was underhit. Rudiger's tackle with Benzema was not full-throttle, and the Frenchman won the ball before stroking into an open goal.
Former Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman agreed that the Chelsea duo's error was inexcusable. He claims that Chelsea made things easy for Real by giving them the third goal.
According to McManaman: "Sometimes it's not the teams that score the most goals that win competitions; it's the teams that make the fewest mistakes. Tonight, Madrid were fantastic, with an experienced, superstar center-forward. In these tight games, a single mistake or sending off can change the entire game's narrative." What was a 2-1 game with a difficult second half for Madrid, became a really easy one in the end. Chelsea didn’t give themselves a chance.