Chelsea moved 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League by beating West Ham. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the 2-1 victory at the London Stadium.
Kept his cool when West Ham were launching balls towards Andy Carroll and produced an important second-half save when he blocked Sofiane Feghouli’s shot.
The usually solid Spaniard had an off night. He was beaten by Robert Snodgrass a couple of times early on and also by Mark Noble in the second half.
Had a very good game at the heart of the Chelsea defence. Unruffled by Carroll’s presence and made good decisions on the ball throughout.
This was Cahill at his outstanding best; calm, strong and positionally excellent. His reading of the game enabled him to mop up time after time, often after Carroll had won the ball in the air. Great stuff from the captain.
A threat going forward and was terrific defensively, helping out Azpilicueta during a difficult spell in the first half and winning a crucial early header to prevent Carroll meeting a cross as Chelsea were put under pressure early on.
Another breathtaking performance in midfield, the highlight of which was the way in which the Frenchman intercepted Snodgrass’ misplaced pass and led the counter-attack which led to the opening goal.
Passed the ball well and also showed the improving defensive side to his game when he thwarted Snodgrass with a fine challenge in the first half.
Almost scored when he shot narrowly wide after skilfully evading two challenges. He was always eager to attack on the left-hand side but also defended well.
Cleverly exchanged passes with Eden Hazard in the build up to the opening goal and his movement caused West Ham problems before he went off in the second half.
Took his goal really well and served up the corner which led to Chelsea’s second. Full of invention, Hazard was too much for the Hammers to handle.
Not quite at his swashbuckling best, but was influential nonetheless. Well placed to score the second goal and would have made it 3-0 had keeper Darren Randolph not produced a fine save to deny him after the striker’s slick turn in the box.
Did a solid job in midfield after being brought on midway through the second half.
This post was last modified on 07/03/2017