Chelsea had a chance to go 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League table if we were to win against West Brom. The form table as well as this season’s league table would suggest an easy win for Chelsea but it was not to be. Unfortunately, the Baggies earned a draw by scoring late in the second half, against a Chelsea side who hadn’t conceded a goal in 7.5 hours of football. Chelsea had 60% possession and 15 attempts to West Brom’s 11. Nonetheless, here are the player ratings:
Petr Cech-8/10
Petr played well but could not help to concede a late goal
Branislav Ivanovic-7.5/10
Brana had a top first half against West Brom. He scored our goal and was defensively very sound. His second half wasn’t as strong though as the pressure mounted.
Gary Cahill-7/10
Gary had a quiet game but as usual made some wonderful tackles and interceptions and played well for the first 86 minutes of the game. Although he was injured, he could of made a better attempt to block Anichebe from scoring his header.
David Luiz-7.5/10
David was as defensively sound as Gary but earns a better rating as he assisted Ivanovic with his first half goal from a flicked header of a corner. David didn’t mark Anichebe properly and should of blocked Victor from scoring.
Cesar Azpilicueta-7/10
Dave had a sound first half, but drifted out of the game in the second half.
Ramires-7.5/10 (Subbed off for Salah 88th minute)
Ramires had a decent game while he played in the double pivot. He was sloppy with possession on a couple of occasions and was rather quiet when he moved to a wide attacking midfielder.
Nemanja Matic-8/10
Matic had a good game, and he helped our transition from defence to attack.
Willian-7.5/10
Willian again has to be applauded for his work ethic, but he wasn’t very effective in attack. He did have to solid shots against the Baggies but the keeper saved them.
Oscar-7.5/10 (Subbed off 78th minute for Mikel)
Like Willian, Oscar’s work rate has to be applauded but he was sloppy in attack. He skewed a glorious chance wide in the second which would of sent Chelsea 2-0 up.
Eden Hazard-8/10
Hazard was our best attacker even though West Brom made it quite clear that they would target him in defence, and double-team him. Hazard played some lovely flicks and had a couple chances where he should of scored.
Samuel Eto’o-7/10 (Subbed off 66th minute for Torres)
Eto’o put in a defensive shift though his attack wasn’t the best. He often drifted wide and wasn’t offering anything in attack.
Used Subs:
Fernando Torres- 6.5/10
Torres played his first half an hour since he received that injury against Man Utd. He earned a few fouls and made 1 or 2 stifling runs which didn’t eventuate into anything.
John Obi Mikel- 7/10
Mikel was brought on to be a midfield enforcer and he did his job to an extent. He can’t be blamed for the goal though.
Mohommed Salah-NA
Salah came on late and couldn’t really help the Chelsea cause.
A poor result from the boys, but we still have to KTBFFH!
