Nemanja Matic was not picked out as outstanding in many of the match reports of Saturday’s game, with the goalscoring exploits of Marcos Alonso and Pedro dominating the back pages.
But the Serbian midfielder put in a very impressive display, and showed exactly why manager Antonio Conte prefers him to Cesc Fabregas. He patrolled the middle of the park superbly and cut off Leicester’s supply to their front men for 90 minutes.
On the third year anniversary of his return from Portugal, the former Benfica man had 112 touches, more than any other player, as he controlled the game with ease. He made 96 passes, also the most of any player, along with contributing 2 tackles, 4 interceptions and a clearance defensively.
Despite having the numerical advantage in midfield, with Nampalys Mendy and Wilfred Ndidi starting alongside Danny Drinkwater in midfield, Chelsea were able to run the game thanks to Matic’s dominance of the middle of the park alongside N’Golo Kante – just look at the heatmap comparing the three Leicester players on the left with the Matic-Kante axis on the right.
It’s true that Matic doesn’t posses the same ability to start attacks quickly that Fabregas does, and he doesn’t provide the same attacking firepower. But his ability to use his physicality to control large spaces in games like this one make him invaluable in a system which has only two central midfielders. As long as he continues playing like this when called upon, he will have Antonio Conte’s trust in big games despite his limitations, especially away from Stamford Bridge.
