Xabi Alonso has confirmed that he subbed Levi Colwill in the 1-0 loss to Sunderland because he was carrying a yellow card. The manager was also worried that Sunderland would look to play through him in transitions to get him sent off at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
Colwill struggled in the first half against Brian Brobbey and conceded the penalty. The England defender got caught up in a tussle with the Dutch striker as Brobbey broke towards goal, and was deemed to have pulled him down. He was then shown a yellow card for the foul. Enzo Le Fée scored the penalty in the 36th minute, with Mike Penders guessing and diving in the other direction.
Speaking post-match, Alonso said:
“Levi had a yellow card, we knew that he was going to play in transitions with Brobbey looking for that [second] card. Moi did well, but in attack we didn’t produce enough.”
He added in his post-match press conference:
“Yeah I mean, there was a reason… He had a yellow card as well. And it had been something that we had been working on during the week.”
Alonso also refused to blame referee Jarred Gillett for the penalty, despite some viewers feeling the contact from Colwill was minimal:
“I haven’t seen Cole’s action but there might have been a chance it could have been given. And the other one it is an action that we could defend better and it’s been our mistake.”
Chelsea Struggled at Sunderland
With the substitution of Colwill, Alonso was able to bring Estevao on to add some attacking flair. Moises Caicedo dropped into defence to play alongside Wesley Fofana. The Ecuadorian performed well in his new position and ended the match as one of the most important players on the pitch for the Blues.
However, the additional attacking threat wasn’t enough to help at the Stadium of Light. The Blues ended the match with 69% possession, but only created an xG of 0.53, compared to 2.55 for Sunderland. Estevao was thwarted by a goal-saving block from Thomas Meunier, and Danny Welbeck headed a stoppage-time free-kick from the Brazilian over the bar.
The loss means that Chelsea have fallen out of the top four of the Premier League. Meanwhile, Sunderland moved away from the bottom of the table with their second league win of the season. Alonso will need to find solutions in attack during the international break.