Chelsea suffered a 3-2 defeat against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, and only a few Blues players gave performances worthy of the shirt.
Read player ratings below.
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Petr Cech: 3/10
Stoke City’s second and third goals were excellent, but Petr Cech was at fault for Crouch’s strike and made no saves in the entire contest. A mere 53% pass completion was simply not good enough.
Branislav Ivanovic: 5/10
Unusually for a player not considered technically adept, Branislav Ivanovic was better going forward than he was in defence. Made zero tackles throughout the match.
John Terry: 6/10
John Terry is generally considered to be a leader and a good reader of the game, but was forced to make desperate clearances time and time again in a poorly organised defence.
Capable of so much better.
Gary Cahill: 5/10
Another player who couldn’t cope with the free-flowing football from Stoke City – Stoke City! – Cahill looked a million miles from the player who was a vital member of a back line that was so solid in its UEFA Champions League winning campaign under Jose Mourinho.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 7/10
Cesar Azpilicueta was once again the standout Chelsea defender, making four tackles to the one made by the other three in the back line.
With two interceptions and seven clearances, Azpilicueta deserves to keep his place at left back over Ashley Cole.
John Obi Mikel: 6/10
John Obi Mikel distributed the ball as well as ever, and maintained his position well, but his metronomic play does tend to slow his team down.
Ramires: 5/10
Ramires was much less effective than Mikel, managing a poor 74% pass completion, scarcely any help in defence, and poor contribution in attack.
Eden Hazard: 8/10
Eden Hazard is developing into the best dribbler in the Premier League, with only Luis Suarez coming close to his skill on the ball.
Some wonderful runs forward and clever passes only needed to be married to the odd bit of selfless play, for despite getting into some strong positions, Hazard did not have a single shot.
Juan Mata: 6/10
Juan Mata saw more of the ball than anyone else in the Chelsea team, and distributed the ball well – if a bit cautiously. A surprisingly understated performance.
Andre Schurrle: 8/10
Andre Schurrle is an immensely dynamic player, who bursts forward with gusto before unleashing unstoppable shots.
Scored with two of his five shots – an impressive conversion rate – and was also accurate with his crossing.
Fernando Torres: 5/10
Striker at one of the top clubs in the Premier League, and yet only had a single shot.
Another of those performances where one wonders just how Torres cost £50 million.
Substitutes:
Demba Ba: 6/10
Demba Ba tries hard, but ultimately doesn’t possess the requisite quality to be a Chelsea striker.
Samuel Eto’o: 5/10
Samuel Eto’o does have immense quality, but it wasn’t on show today.
Frank Lampard: 6/10
Could not influence the game.
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