Just 2 days after facing Galatasaray in Turkey, Chelsea had a London derby at Fulham. The first 45 minutes was a very poor showing, but after half time, our attack started to click. A magnificent Andre Schurrle hat-rick was the key highlight of the second half, as well as a great game by Hazard. We had 58% possession throughout the whole game and 17 attempts at goal (although only 7 were on target). Due to Arsenal’s loss to Stoke, we are now clear by 4 points, and we are clear from Man City by 6 points, although they have 2 games in hand.
Here are the player ratings for this match:
Petr Cech- 7.5/10
Petr had a quite game in between the sticks. He only faced the attempts on target from Fulham, and one of those was a scrappy goal of a set piece.
Branislav Ivanovic- 7/10
Brana had an ordinary game by his standards, even though he was hardly tested. He did not join in our attack during the match but played well defensively.
Gary Cahill- 8/10
Gary was by far our best player in the first half of this match. He stood tall and took charge in defence. His dominate displays continued during the second half, however he seemed to receive a little more help from the player around him.
John Terry- 7.5/10
This wasn’t one of John’s better games so far this season. On many occasions, he seemed to have been caught napping but Gary covered him in defence. These two have formed a formidable partnership in defence now however, and has been the key to our success this season.
Cesar Azpilicueta- 7.5/10
Dave had a decent first half; he was flying up and down the flank, covering in defence and was making important challenges. He seemed to however drop his intensity during the second half and put in a but of a lazy performance.
Ramires- 7.5/10
Ramires had an extremely poor start to this game but seemed to improve as the game progressed. He started off sloppily in possession and gave away needless fouls but once Chelsea got their break through goal, he seemed to become more comfortable with the ball.
Nemanja Matic- 8/10
Matic had been a wonderful acquisition this season. He has played very well in the Premier League and it is a massive shame that he cannot play in the Champions League. His tackling was great, contested many aerial duels and won and broke down the opposing attack before it was to threaten our backline.
Andre Shurrle- (subbed off 86th minute for Luiz) 9.5/10
Could this be the end to our striking problems? Andre played magnificently well in the second half, and he deserved his 3 goals. They were all calm finishes, which our strikers have seemed to lack as of late. His ability to get behind the Fulham defence was just amazing and I feel he should be played as a striker.
Oscar- (Subbed off 77th minute for Mikel) 8/10
After have a very bad spell of form lately, Oscar had a good game. It was clear that he was suffering from fatigue, and I feel that if he has a bit more of a break, he will improve more this season.
Eden Hazard- 8.5/10
This was Eden’s worst first half performance of the season. He was getting frustrated, as the Fulham defence would double-team him when he had the ball. He had a great second half however laying off 2 assists for Shurrle, controlling the pace of the game and charging at defenders. He played an amazing ROBONA cross which Torres couldn’t finish off.
Fernando Torres- (subbed of 81st minute for Ba) 7.5/10
This was a rather sloppy performance by Torres. He had the chance to score of Steklenburg’s mistake but couldn’t bury it. He was poor when he had possession of the ball but somehow out-jumped the 6 foot 7 Fulham defender, and played a lovely ball through for Shurrle to score his third.
Used Subs:
John Obi Mikel- 7.5/10
Mikel was substituted on to add extra height in set pieces and to solidify our defence, and that exactly what he did.
Demba Ba – 7.5/10
Demba was given 10 or so minutes to try and score. He ran his heart out though and was nearly rewarded with a goal.
David Luiz- 7.5/10
Luiz was substituted on for the same reasons as Mikel. He did his job well, like Mikel and did nothing notable
Great win from the boys, KTBFFH!
