Chelsea player ratings after feisty draw with Swansea City
Antonio Conte lost his 100% winning record, as his start to life as Chelsea manager hit a bump in the road. With the dust settled, let’s look at the Chelsea player ratings.
SWANSEA, WALES – SEPTEMBER 11: (L-R) Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea look dejected during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Chelsea at Liberty Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
A feisty encounter at Liberty Stadium resulted in Chelsea players frustrated with the refereeing (I’d give the officials low ratings). Meanwhile, Diego Costa was the centre of attention (again), Eden Hazard continued his fine start to the season and Thibaut Courtois proved he isn’t Manuel Neuer.
Chelsea showed resilience after Swansea scored two goals in quick succession. The Swans had all the momentum, yet the Blues turned the tide with relentless attacks.
While the result is disappointing for Conte he will continue to be pleased with the fight his side show.
With the players preparing to face Liverpool, let’s look at how they rated against Swansea.
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois
GK, Belgium
His attempt at playing sweeper-keeper failed horribly and ended up with him giving away a penalty. He should have saved the second goal. Chelsea don’t need him to win them games, but it’s worrying when teams are scoring goals off so few shots.
Defence
Branislav Ivanovic
RB, Serbia
Offered as much, if not more, than Willian in attack and created the equalizer with a powerful run. He’s currently making it harder and harder for Antonio Conte to drop him.
Gary Cahill
CB, England
Was playing well until his mistake let in Leroy Fer. Yes it was a foul, but he should have played the ball sooner and prevented the whole situation.
John Terry
CB, England
Kept Fernando Llorente anonymous throughout. He can deal with the big powerful strikers, just not speedy folks. Played the last minute with one leg because he’s an absolute warrior.
Cesar Azpilicueta
LB, Spain
Solid defensively – as per – but wasn’t as prominent in attack. Will possibly be playing behind Willian on Friday.
Midfield
N'Golo Kante
CDM, France
One passage of play saw him single-handedly tackle three Swansea players outside their own box. He then shot the ball out of the stadium, which sums up his game nicely. He could do with a better defence behind him to take the workload off.
Nemanja Matic
CM, Serbia
A solid game defensively but he offers little-to-nothing in attack. Lacks the pace to burst forward and is keeping certain young players out of the team.
Oscar
CM, Brazil
Oscar made this centre-midfield spot his own. He’s becoming better and better in defence but his attacking game seems to have lost something. Consistency has always been his biggest issue, so only time will tell if he can keep the impressive performances coming.
Attack
Eden Hazard
W, Belgium
Frustrating game. He produced some brilliant crosses which no-one was on the end of. There was more than one occasion when he could have driven on goal and shot but chose to pass instead. To take his game to the next level he needs to be selfish and shoot more.
Willian
W, Brazil
Seemed frustrated to be subbed off but did little to warrant staying on. He has an amazing turn of pace and used it well on a couple of occasions during the match. He needs to use it more and be less predictable.
Diego Costa
ST, Spain
A sensational, aggressive and determined game from the striker. “Should have been sent-off” will be the title of his biography as people are starting to reach for reasons why he shouldn’t be on the pitch. He could have had a number of Swansea players sent off as he draws fouls so well. He loses a mark for running into Lukasz Fabianski when he had an open goal to shoot for.
Substitutes
Cesc Fabregas
CM, Spain
Fabregas made three fantastic passes almost immediately after being brought on. The match was almost too frantic and fast by the time he entered the fray. Unfortunately for him Oscar is playing so well.
Victor Moses
W, Nigeria
For some reason Moses was booed constantly by the Swansea fans. If anyone knows why let us know in the comments below. A solid outing and he offers something different in attack.
Michy Batshuayi
ST, Belgium
Not entirely sure if he touched the ball while he was on. He is great, so he gets credit for creating the equaliser by merely threatening to come on the pitch.
Manager
Antonio Conte
Manager, Italy
It’s hard to criticise the manager when individual errors resulted in two slightly fortunate goals for the Swans. However, he seems to wait until really late into the game to make subs and he could have brought on Batshuayi earlier to go for the win.
Were the Blues unlucky? Or did individuals let the team down? Let us know your ratings in the comments below!
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