Derby v Chelsea player ratings

Chelsea will host Stoke in the fourth round of the FA Cup after seeing off Derby at Pride Park. Here’s how we rated the players in their 2-0 victory against Steve McClaren’s side.

Mark Schwarzer: 7
Made a brilliant one-handed first-half stop but otherwise was pretty much untroubled behind a solid defence. Kicked and distributed reliably and made a couple of routine saves.

Cesar Azpilicueta: 6
Not as effective as he usually is going forward from right-back, but he defended well enough.

David Luiz: 7
One daft error before the break could easily have led to a goal but he set up numerous attacks and his class and composure meant, that bad moment aside, he never looked hassled or harried. So good on the ball and constantly won possession when he had no right to do so.

Gary Cahill: 8
Strong, confident and assertive. Takes on more responsibility when John Terry is absent and was quick to provide cover for his flamboyant centre-back partner. Regularly excellent this season.

Ashley Cole: 7
Some timely interventions – notably to clear a dangerous cross that almost found Jamie Ward – and less likely to be caught out positionally as he tends not to commit himself in attack so much these days. An impressive performance from the England left-back. Unflustered and good in possession.

John Mikel Obi: 7
Goalscorer supreme. Struggled a bit in the first half as Chelsea unnecessarily were overloaded with defensive midfielders. But looked far more settled with a bit more space to do his defensive work when Eden Hazard came on. Great run and header for his goal and was almost impossible to knock off the ball.

Michael Essien: 5
The system meant he looked uncomfortable, although he was sloppy with the ball and ponderous too. One of three players who did not look happy with two similar-minded holding midfield players and too many ball-winners in the starting line-up.

Ramires: 6
See above. The Brazilian is simply not at his best when he needs to find a pass or unlock a defence and too often he had to try to find a tightly-marked team-mate. Looked much better in the second half when Hazard came on.

Willian: 8
Pacy, dangerous and exceptionally skilful – and he demonstrated all these qualities. Thrived on the pressure of being one of only two truly creative Blues players on the pitch before the interval. Wonderful free-kick led to the first goal and his set-piece delivery is getting better with each match.

Oscar: 9
A constant threat even when he seemingly had no time or space. Managed several shots in the first half – usually having made the opening himself – and was Chelsea’s best hope of a goal. Industrious, brave, strong, alert and provided a goal threat.

Samuel Eto’o: 5
Made a terrible hash of a great one-on-one chance in the first half and was otherwise pretty anonymous. This was largely down to being starved of a supply line, but still it was not a great display.

Eden Hazard: 8
The game was crying out for an injection of pace up front and the Belgian did not disappoint when he came off the bench, teeing up numerous chances and winning the free-kick for Mikel’s headed goal.

Fernando Torres: 7
One superb piece of skill almost led to a goal. Had another decent effort saved and was lively after coming on.

Derby
More than held their own before the break and had a couple of promising situations. Will Hughes impressed in midfield, Ward was lively and threatening in the final third and they defended comfortably against Eto’o. But the Chelsea re-jig and introduction of Hazard left them struggling to cope and, from then on, the away win had an air of inevitably about it.

Man of the match: Oscar

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