Chelsea maintained their hopes of securing a top-four finish as they beat Swansea and Liverpool could only manage to draw their game. The Blues capped off a decent performance against Carlos Carvalhal’s Swansea as Cesc Fabregas’ early goal settled the tie. Not much notable activity took place in the final third.
Here are the Chelsea player ratings…
Thibaut Courtois: 6/10
The Belgian was left untroubled by the Swans albeit a flurry of late attacking moves tended to threaten him. A good clean sheet to keep nevertheless.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 8/10
Azpi read the game brilliantly as he thwarted off attacks with his brilliant and astute positioning. He did not leave much space near the penalty box for the Swans and tried to surge ahead on some occasions too.
Gary Cahill: 7/10
Cahill led the backline well, was strong in the air and arranged the defensive line during crunch moments. He misplaced a couple of passes in the first half and this sloppiness would have cost them against a more clinical side. However, it was a good performance from the captain.
Antonio Rudiger: 6/10
Rudiger was strong and quick, though he was largely left undisturbed as the Swans rarely looked to attack with intent.
Victor Moses: 5/10
Moses was seeing a lot of the ball in the right flank and cut in to create a couple of chances in the first half. However, his end-product seems to be diminishing gradually and the manager should have a look at it.
Emerson Palmieri: 6/10
As Swansea were much reserved in the first-half, Palmieri could have used it to swing fortunes to his side by showing more intent to go ahead. He was rather safe defensively but his best attacking game is yet to be seen in the Chelsea colors.
N’golo Kante: 7/10
Kante was energetic as ever as he ran behind loose balls, broke off attacks by incessant pressing and then distributed the ball to the other half. His game-reading was top-notch as such as he made some crucial interceptions and was genuinely the engine in the midfield.
Tiemoue Bakayako: 4/10
Bakayoko had another disappointing outing as he was rather uninterested in gaining possession and lost the ball a few times. His passing was wayward, as he failed to dribble past opponents too and hence continued his uninspiring run of form.
Cesc Fabregas: 7/10
Fabregas sprayed the ball out from the centre for the two forwards and was the source of all the attacking moves. He notched a sublime goal through a clinical finish via his weaker foot that eventually won Chelsea the game.
Eden Hazard: 7/10
Hazard started off the game brilliantly as he was dazzling past opponents, linking up the play, playing his own sweet tricks and some flicks to create unrest in the opposition half. He, however, failed to impact the game in a similar fashion in front of goal. Still, a good performance from the Belgian.
Olivier Giroud: 6/10
Giroud looked a bit off-pace at times and could have been sharper at times. However, he found Hazard’s deliveries well and could well turn out to be an excellent signing in the coming time.
Substitutes
Pedro: 6/10
Pedro was brought in to ensure that the energy levels of the game remained intact.
Willian: 6/10
Willian tried to counter with pace but was generally held back by the Swans in his own half for the last ten minutes.
Alvaro Morata: N.A
Had too less a time to impact the game in any way.
