Chelsea cemented their place at the top of the table with another win – their 12th in a row in the league. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the 3-0 victory against Bournemouth.
Twice called into significant action and produced important saves on both occasions. With the score at 1-0 he denied Jack Wilshere and in the second half he saved with his legs from Benik Afobe after Wilshere had put the substitute through.
Superb again. The Spaniard was alert to the danger in the first half when he dashed across to prevent Harry Arter’s low cross reaching Josh King near the edge of the six-yard box and Azpilicueta also blocked a goal-bound shot from Wilshere to prevent an equaliser.
Was caused some problems by the pace and directness of Afobe in the second half but overall it was a very decent performance at the heart of Chelsea’s defence.
Kept things simple and frequently looked to step up with the ball to try to get attacks going.
Got through plenty of work on the right-hand side before being substituted late on. Sent a shot wide in the second half and always looked a threat.
Did well in midfield, where he was made to work hard by Bournemouth’s neat passing and movement. He responded with a strong display, winning plenty of challenges and using the ball effectively.
Terrific stuff from Fabregas on his return to the side in the absence of the suspended N’Golo Kante. He was involved in the build-up to the opening goal, went close with a first-half free-kick, set up Eden Hazard for a chance in the second half and got through lots of work off the ball as well.
Tidy on the left-hand side, where he gave nothing away defensively and linked up well with the likes of Pedro.
Played well and in the second half in particular he looked much more like the Willian of last season, covering a huge amount of ground without the ball and showing pace and skill with it. Great work created a second-half chance for Hazard – just one example of Willian being a thorn in Bournemouth’s side.
Capped a fine display when, in injury time, he scored his second goal of the game, courtesy of a huge deflection. There was nothing lucky about his first goal – a glorious strike from the edge of the penalty area.
Deployed as Chelsea’s main attacker and responded with another fantastic performance, justifying boss Antonio Conte’s decision not to choose Michy Batshuayi. Bournemouth mostly defended well but it was a constant challenge to contain Hazard, who won the penalty from which he scored his ninth goal of the season.
This post was last modified on 27/12/2016