Chelsea took a huge step towards the knockout phase of the Champions League with a resounding win against Schalke. Here’s how we rated the Blues players in their 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Petr Cech: 7
Had nothing to do in the first half apart from watch two shots go just wide of the post. But he made a superb, and vital, fingertip save to deny Julian Draxler when the score was 1-0 after the interval.
Branislav Ivanovic: 6
Constantly got into threatening positions and made numerous intelligent runs, but his quality was poor in attack. Defensively sound apart from one sloppy moment. As ever, his commitment is without question.
Gary Cahill: 7
Steady and effective and happy to play second fiddle to his captain John Terry. Imposing and authoritative, timed his tackles perfectly and covered effectively.
John Terry: 7
Excellent, dominant display. Powerful in the air and calm and assured on the deck. Always appeared in control.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 7
Tenacious and largely untroubled after the team recovered from a nervy opening. Always available in attack.
John Obi Mikel: 8
Did precisely the job he was recalled to do, retaining possession intelligently and shielding the back four. Unflappable, strong and barely wasted the ball.
Ramires: 6
Hit-and-miss performance from the bustling Brazilian. As is often the case, makes up for a lack of quality by chasing around as if his life depended on it. His energy is crucial to the team dynamic but he needs to show more care when he has the ball.
Oscar: 7
Covered a huge amount of ground, but was much more influential in the second half when he was used in a more advanced role. His quality is plainly obvious but at times can be very careless in possession.
Andre Schurrle: 7
Heavily involved in the first half when he worked himself into several good positions and showed good confidence and intent. Faded as an attacking threat on the resumption, but that was mainly because of a tactical change.
Willian: 8
Chelsea’s brightest player in the final third. Much sharper than in his first outings and always looked likely to create a goal. Great pace, awareness and a brilliant delayed pass to tee up Samuel Eto’o’s second. Will be hard to leave out.
Samuel Eto’o: 7
Had a slack first 30 minutes in which he could do precious little right. But his fortunate goal was reward for his workrate and willingness to close down. And he was far more confident and effective from then on, scoring a brilliant second goal to prove it.
Demba Ba: 7
Wasted one excellent chance, shooting tamely at goal after a cautious first touch before scoring a superb goal when he volleyed in Lampard’s clever lobbed pass.
Kevin De Bruyne: 6
A couple of neat passes but had little chance to shine.
Frank Lampard: 7
Did well in his brief cameo. His astute pass set up Ba’s goal.
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This post was last modified on 07/11/2013