Hugh hands out the marks
Fabianski: No chance with the goals and a dodgy moment from a corner which might have handed Chelsea another but a fine save in there too. 6
Fredericks: No complaints at all -defended well and got forward when he had the chance in the face of much pressure 6
Balbuena: Made us all realise what we’d been missing. Marshalled the defence really well and made two seriously important interventions 8
Ogbonna: Left for dead a couple of times in the first half and took a yellow for the cause. Still question marks over him 5
Cresswell: Did ok getting forward but a couple of nasty defensive errors almost let the hosts in 5
Rice: Under as much pressure as we’ve seen this season. Did ok and kept it simple 6
Noble: Forced to cover ground behind two high full backs and had a decent closing down some dangerous forward Chelsea movement 6
Anderson: Casual and at times lazy. The odd moment of promise but by and large disappointing 4
Lanzini: Like the rest of them, came alive in the second half when he showed nice touches and saw a shot well save from Arnautovic’s clever lay off. 5
Chicharito: Oh dear – absolutely nothing from him again 1
Arnautovic: Far more like the player we know in the second half when he was switched from the right to become line leader 7
Subs:
Snodgrass: Worled really hard and kept several “lost” causes alive 6
Obiang: Worked hard when on for Noble without really affecting things 3
Cresswell didn’t have a great game but if he hadn’t gone out of position they would have probably scored from the cross that he came inside to clear. Anderson stood and watched Hazard drop into that space but only went towards him as he was receiving the ball. Could have done much better but doesn’t seem to think that getting back to help the team is one of his duties.
Can see how you can rate Lanzini higher than Anderson. Lanzini was a passenger all night, offered little and was caught in possession so many times. At least Anderson put in some telling crosses
Never a 5 for Cress. Our second worst after chicha. His offensive play was ok but defensive disaster. Pulled out of position and possession several times. Seems no trust between him and Oggy. Need Diop and Balbuena there and a new LB. Look at the second goal as an example of my point toward Cress defensive positioning