There is no worse-kept secret in world football than the fact that N’Golo Kante is a machine. The French pocket dynamite is a force of nature, terrorizing opponents with his extraordinary work rate and his immense ability to intercept the ball and curb potential danger for his team.
Kante did justice to his brilliant reputation in Chelsea’s Champions League Round of 16 clash against Atletico Madrid last night, as the World Cup-winning midfielder put in a truly tireless shift that secured him the Man of The Match award on the night as Chelsea emerged 2-0 winners – thanks to goals from Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri.
The West London club progressed to the quarter-finals on 3-0 aggregate, as their most important midfield asset shone the brightest on the night – particularly late in the game to secure the win for Chelsea.
Kante put on a dominant display alongside Mateo Kovacic in midfield, as the midfield pairing cleaned up any chances of potential damage by Diego Simeone’s side. Kante was everywhere on the pitch – be it connecting the defence with the attack, or covering up for the Chelsea attack every time Atletico tried to get at them on the counter.
The tireless Frenchman showed immense ability and intent to venture down the field even late in the game – as could be seen from the run that he made into Atletico’s defensive third in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Kante showed unbelievable work rate and an acute footballing brain, as he went on a deceptive run towards the depleted Atletico rear guard on the counter – just so that he could occupy a backtracking defender while opening up space for Christian Pulisic running with the ball, who passed to the untracked Emerson Palmieri who eventually scored Chelsea’s second of the night.
The passage of play summed up what a priceless asset that Kante is for the club, as he put on an incredible performance to push Chelsea to the brink of qualification to the quarter-finals – which they eventually did end up securing on the night.
Here’s how football fans reacted to N’Golo Kante’s world-class display last night –
That Kante performance is one of the best performances I’ve seen from any Chelsea player in my 43 years of supporting the club. Incredible.
It's easy to put Kanté's extraordinary ability to pop up everywhere on the pitch down to his stamina and 'energy'- when, in fact, it is because he reads the game better than almost everyone else. He not 'everywhere' – he's in the right place, almost all of the time.
Kanté’s put in one of those performances where once these atleti players retire and get asked as pundits who their most difficult opponent in their career was, they’ll reference this game
Just noticed Kante sprinted past Pulisic from our own box for the second goal. He’s actually not human. What an outrageously good performance from him today. Reminded everyone why there’s no better DM in the world, on the biggest of stages. #CHEATM
Difficult to pick a MOTM for #cfc there were so many good performances. James immense down the right, Havertz's clever movement, Kovacic tireless and we're running out of superlatives for Kante – shrewd anticipation, stealthy interception, intelligent re-distribution. #CHEATM
Last night was one of Kante’s best performances in a Chelsea shirt alongside the Liverpool Super Cup game. 13 recoveries but also incredible on the ball, unshackled with a sugar rush. 3rd man run for the Emerson goal in the 93rd min, vital decoy. Brilliant since the Utd game. pic.twitter.com/vheYqihhDt
