A fine Chelsea performance at Craven Cottage saw Jose Mourinho’s men go four points clear at the top of the table following a 3-1 win over Fulham. Andre Schurrle scored a second half hattrick thanks to two Eden Hazard assists which overshadowed their lethargic first half performance. Arsenal meanwhile dropped points at Stoke which puts Chelsea in pole position to claim the Premier League title given their run of games in the coming weeks.
Here is Chelsea’s player ratings from Craven Cottage in London.
Peter Cech: Was an easy afternoon for the Czech International, making two routine saves but was certainly not at fault for Fulham’s consolation. Cech however would be gutted he didn’t muster up yet another clean sheet.
Rating: 3/5
Branislav Ivanovic: The Serbian had a poor game given his standards, was strangely way off colour going forward and gave away silly fouls. Not his best game and would quickly want to forget this.
Rating: 2/5
Gary Cahill: Yet again Cahill shows why he is currently England’s best centre back. Brilliant game for him as he looked cool and calm at the back and was rarely caught out of position. Apart from Hazard and Schurrle he was Chelsea’s standout player for me.
Rating: 3.5/5
John Terry: The Chelsea captain had some panicky moments throughout the encounter but would be thanking his stars to have Cahill by his side. Not flashy, neither brilliant but must step up his game in the coming weeks.
Rating: 2/5
Cesar Azpilicueta: Yet again a solid performance from the Spnaird displaying immense maturity for a player who is just in his second season in England’s top flight football. Routine shift in and must be said, he has made Ashley Cole a forgotten name.
Rating: 3/5
Nemanja Matic: Neither spectacular nor brilliant but was an assured presence in the middle of the park. Looked far from his best but then again wasn’t needed to be up at full throttle thaks to Fulham’s mediocrity.
Rating: 2.5/5
Ramires: He has been way off colour in the recent few weeks and that continued for the Brazilian. Did try to barge forward time and again in the second half but always came up short with the final ball.
Rating: 2/5
Oscar: As it has been said, Chelsea’s results has been masking Oscar’s awful performances. He doesn’t look like the one he was at the beginning of the season and is at best the shadow of his former self.
Rating: 1.5/5
Eden Hazard: A man of the match performance from the Belgian yet again. Brilliant all over the park braging two assists and should have got more reward more the majestic rabona heel to Torres, the latter who missed when it looked easier to score. Superb!
Rating: 4/5
Andre Schurrle: Exactly two different performances in either half. He was out of the game in the first forty five but he wiped it off with two goals of his own in the second to set Chelsea on their way.
Rating: 3.5/5
Fernando Torres: Shows the good and bad side of him. While he missed an open goal from an unmarked header, he bagged a superb assist by laying in a wonderfully suhioned pass for Schurrle for Chelsea’s thrid. Chelsea though have problems up front. Yet another game where their strikers have failed to hit the back of the net.
Rating: 2.5/5