Chelsea went into half-time 1-0 up against Manchester City in their Premier League encounter at the Etihad.
Raheem Sterling scored to give his side the lead, but some good defending from Axel Disasi also helped Chelsea to finish the half in front.
It did not go unnoticed, with Jamie Carragher describing him as a “magnet” on Sky Sports (17/02/2024 at 18:16) after the centre-back dealt with every ball that came his way.
Disasi has been a key player for Mauricio Pochettino this season, with the Frenchman already making over 30 appearances under the Argentine.
Chelsea signed Disasi from AS Monaco last summer for £38.8m (Sky Sports).
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Jamie Carragher impressed with Axel Disasi’s defending against Manchester City
It is fair to say that Carragher liked what he saw from Disasi in the first half.
On the 25-year-old, he said: “Disasi again at the back post. A chance again for [Erling] Haaland, but Disasi, he’s been a magnet in this first half every time that ball’s come into the box, certainly the last two or three minutes.”
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Axel Disasi Chelsea’s first-choice centre-back
Disasi only joined Chelsea last summer and the Blues have some really good centre-half options, but the France international is probably Pochettino’s first-choice central defender right now.
As per WhoScored, Disasi went into today’s game with more minutes under his belt than any other Chelsea player bar Thiago Silva.
Silva was dropped for the Blues’ FA Cup fourth round replay win against Aston Villa but came back into the side a match later because of an injury to Benoit Badiashile. With that in mind, then, you would have to say that Disasi is certainly the centre-back Pochettino is relying on most at this moment in time.
Chelsea and Disasi have another huge game next Sunday, taking on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
