Chelsea suffered their third Premier League defeat of the season, losing 3-1 to Everton. Here’s how we rated the Blues players in the game at Goodison Park.
Asmir Begovic: 8
Chelsea’s stand-out player on a miserable afternoon in Merseyside. He made a wonderful save from Arouna Kone’s header and numerous other decent stops and could not be faulted for the goals.
Branislav Ivanovic: 5
He will once again be picked out as the weak link in defence but once again the system often leaves him dreadfully exposed. That said he failed to close down properly for Steven Naismith’s second goal and, despite taking up countless good attacking positions, his final ball was poor.
Kurt Zouma: 6
Defended solidly enough for the most part but was not commanding enough against Romelu Lukaku and could have done better for Naismith’s hat-trick goal.
John Terry: 6
Made some notable defensive blocks and was steady throughout, using his experience to negate the threat of Lukaku and taking up some excellent defensive positions when the home side were on top.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 6
Had more control than his full-back colleague on the opposite flank but looked more susceptible on the break than he normally does. Unlucky not to score after a fine first-half run.
John Mikel Obi: 6
Did well on the ball, using the it swiftly and hardly wasting possession. But was brought in to offer more protection for the back four and Everton scored three goals, which all involved passing movements through the central areas.
Nemanja Matic: 7
Scored a fabulous goal and provided a good link between Mikel and the front players, despite often being outnumbered in the heart of the midfield. Looked much sharper than in his early-season performances.
Pedro: 5
Some really promising moments, but failed to deliver in the final third. As with Eden Hazard was often double-marked as sides get wise to Chelsea’s tendency to rely on two attackers to create their chances.
Cesc Fabregas: 5
A pretty forgettable display from the Spanish playmaker, who was unable to help his side establish any sort of control during the frantic spell in the first half which saw Everton score twice and almost grab another couple of goals. Was taken off in the closing stages and his frustrated expression told the story of a below-par display.
Eden Hazard: 6
Nowhere near his game-changing best but still showed a commendable work-rate and looked the most likely creator of a goal.
Diego Costa: 6
As prickly an opponent as ever, but passed up a couple of good shooting opportunities – showing worrying signs his confidence is lacking after a difficult start to the season.
Kenedy: 5
Got involved a great deal after coming on, displaying impressive confidence for a 19-year-old when the game was slipping away. But didn’t manage to make much of an impact.
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This post was last modified on 13/09/2015