Chelsea preserved their unbeaten start to the season and moved back to the top of the table with a gutsy display. Here’s how we rated the Blues players in Monday’s draw at Manchester United.
Petr Cech: 6
Barely had a save to make until he pulled off an excellent late stop from Wayne Rooney. But otherwise hardly involved.
Branislav Ivanovic: 7
Solid and won his headers. Did little in attack but consequently was able to keep his shape in an impressive defensive effort.
John Terry: 8
Commanding and back to the Terry of the previous Jose Mourinho regime. Made three wonderful blocks, won numerous important headers and organised his defence superbly.
Gary Cahill: 8
Slightly overshadowed by his central defensive partner but still a fine display. Robin van Persie and Rooney both posed problems but he coped admirably and was not drawn out of position to follow any of United’s front three.
Ashley Cole: 7
Relatively untroubled in defence. But again was limited in his attempts to get forward. One surging run led to a pretty poor attempt to win a penalty.
Ramires: 6
A very disciplined display and showed signs of adding maturity and awareness to his relentless running – something that was perhaps lacking . It restricted his forward runs but ensured he provided much-needed cover. Lacked quality on the ball at times though.
Frank Lampard: 7
Quiet but steady and effective and a calming influence in a young midfield. Showed his commendable workrate and fitness by completing his third game in a week.
Oscar: 8
Chelsea’s best attacking player. Got on the end of the few decent moves that led to near things and was the main attacking threat. Was always available in midfield and covered an impressive amount of ground.
Eden Hazard: 7
Quiet before the interval but a major threat on the break after. Always dangerous but unable to create that one real opening.
Kevin De Bruyne: 5
No lack of effort but struggled to impose himself on the game and at times looked a little bit overawed. A painful elbow in the face possibly had an effect.
Andre Schurrle: 7
A tireless performance that involved endless running for very little personal reward. More influential after the break. Did a fine job for the team and did not look out of place on his full debut.
Fernando Torres: 6
Typical Torres. One or two good moments and decent runs after coming on, but also a couple of slips and sloppy passes when he needed to be stronger and more careful in possession.
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This post was last modified on 27/08/2013