The second semi-final of the tournament took place at the Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium as UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea, had to work extremely hard to overcome a very competitive Al Hilal side.
With only a Romelu Lukaku goal separating the teams, Chelsea needed goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to make two important saves to keep the match-winning score line of 1-0 intact.
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic was selected by our TSG as Man of the Match with a powerful performance that impacted significantly on his team’s victory.
He was ranked number one of all players on the pitch for balls received with a total of 69, that’s 34 more than the average of all other players. He also received and retained the ball 84% of the time despite being under indirect pressure for 71% of those ball receptions.
He was number one ranked for completed distributions, with 62 completed at 89% accuracy.
Out of possession, he was just as influential, making three blocks, three clearances, three tackles and an interception, in addition to winning nine possession contests.
Alberto Zaccheroni observed the game and commented: "He was everywhere in midfield. He is a very powerful player and is important for his team when they have the ball and when they do not."
"He moves very quickly in midfield and covers space very well. He does a lot of hard work for his team and is very strong but also is a dangerous player for the opponent when he has the ball."
Steve McClaren noted: "He probably gave the best performance of any midfielder that we’ve seen in the tournament so far. He was aggressive out of possession but was also very important when he had the ball. He was involved in everything positive that Chelsea did and played a vital role in the spine of the team."
"He was always looking to get on the ball and was very effective in how he progressed Chelsea’s play. He’s an important player in that team."
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