Saturday 25 September 2010

Chelsea player ratings

Hart A quieter day at the office than expected. There was one notable save, diving to his right from a Branislav Ivanović header but for the most part it was routine: a few good saves low down but nothing out of the ordinary. 7

Boyata
Drafted in a right back for only his second Premier League start. Could easily have been sent off for a tug on Didier Drogba, or could have conceded a penalty. But for the most part he was assured, not allowing Ashley Cole or Florent Malouda to get beyond him. Better on the ball than I thought too. 7

Kolo Touré
A shaky first half - allowing Ivanović to get in the header that almost put Chelsea ahead, and coming worryingly close to repeating his mix-up with Hart. But he had an excellent second half, making some crucial interceptions. 7

Kompany
Show me a better centre-back in the Premier League. He's been imperious all season but this was probably his best ever performance for City. He shackled Didier Drogba, as he has done before, to the extent that the Ivorian was withdrawn in the second half. His positioning was immaculate, he won every challenge and at one point he went on a forward run that Lúcio would be proud of. 9

Zabaleta
A typically enthusiastic performance at left back. He was very keen to get forward early on, in support of Milner, and led to the creation of our best early chances doubling up on Ivanović. Booked for a nasty lunge on the Serbian and could have received a second yellow for a hack at Essien later on. 7

Silva
Nominally playing on the right but when we were in possession he drifted all the way across the pitch. As ever, his imaginative movement unlike anyone else on the pitch. It was one such run off the ball, dragging John Terry away from Carlos Tévez, that enabled our goal. Off the ball he was tougher and more dogged than people might think, which is very welcome, though his nasty kick on Alex was not. 7

Yaya Touré
Kept his position well in the first half, but as things started to open up later on he moved forward, to the extent that we were almost playing 4-4-1-1 at times. His leggy runs are getting better, though his final ball does suffer from not quite being on the same wavelength as his team-mates. 7

de Jong
Just as good as in this fixture last year. He was crucial, just in front of our back four, breaking up Chelsea's attacks with tackles and interceptions. Florent Malouda and Michael Essien just couldn't break through. His foward passing was more incisive than usual, too. 9

Barry
A very accomplished all-round performance. He did the basics well, and often: nine out of ten successful tackles, and all 42 attempted passes completed. He looks sharper and fitter than last year, which is probably connected to the fact that his place in the team is no longer automatic. A big improvement this season. 8

Milner
Worked hard up and down the left flank, and put in a few good crosses although with only one 5 foot 8 striker on the pitch it's not as easy as when he played with John Carew. 7

Tévez
For the most part he looked fairly isolated up front, although he did work hard dropping deep. But when presented with a half chance he took it, making it four in three for City against Chelsea. 7

Subs:

A. Johnson
One good run but generally quiet. 6

Adebayor
Ran well into the box once but went down easily. 6

Boateng
Nice for him to make his debut, coming on for three minutes at right back. Didn't have much to do. n/a

1 comment:

Symphony in Blue said...

You do seem to be on a bit of a bad run at the momemnt. Some of the problems you appear to be picking up are unique to you. Maybe you noticed more in the match than others or maybe you are along with Alan Shearer a little confused over what was going on. A great perfomance with City being the superior team.