CandH’s Niall McDonald hands out the marks
Fabianski: Spared Zabaleta’s blushes inside 30 seconds. One fine save apart this was a relatively quiet evening 6
Zabaleta: Terrible start but showed a great reaction, and one of our best attacking options before the break 6
Diop: First PL goal just before the break 6
Ogbonna: My gut feeling was he should have been closer to Babel for the goal; did well against Mitrovic 6
Cresswell: A solid if unspectacular evening’s work 5
Rice: Not quite as imperious tonight, but had to do an awful lot of work on his own in the middle 6
Noble: No lack of effort although seemed a little off the pace 5
Snodgrass: Lots of corner practise tonight – generally a pretty decent standard 6
Antonio: Combined well with Zabaleta early on; drifted in and out in 2nd half. Bonus point for the late goal 6
Anderson: Pretty quiet game as most attacks built down the right 5
Hernandez: The dubious goal aside, a typical display – limited contribution outside the Fulham box 6
Subs
Fredericks: Looks a great athlete. One brilliant run and challenge on Mitrovic 6
Arnautovic: Immediately gave us a little more presence and spontaneity up front. Couple of blasts at goal 6
Lanzini: Great to see him back, and on this brief showing, none the worse for his serious injury and long lay-off 6
MANUEL PELLEGRINI: No real surprises in the selection or tactics and made three positive substitutions. This was still harder work than it should have been though 6
I’m sorry Niall, but to say the skipper was off the pace, is a joke. It really is. First half particularly he was one of our best players. I think you should watch the game back Niall. Yet Zabaleta got a 6 and so did lanzini got a 6. Good to see lanzini back but he didn’t do anything.
I thought we lacked intensity most of the match, got off to our usual slow start gave away a poor goal and could have been two if Fabianski hadn’t made a great save. Anderson was probably our best player not sure why he was subbed or why you gave him a 5 Niall and Cresswell was also good both deserve at least 7’s we missed Lanzini when he and Nasri are fit we will have a decent midfield.
Totally disagree on Cresswell. He let Babel go for the goal, and was caught out a few times in second half. Poor display. Fredericks was excellent. Three really important interventions in our penalty box, and looked really good going forward. He looks a very good player.
Very harsh on Antonio, statistically speaking he was the man of the match and had a great game otherwise. Huge hand in first goal, well taken second goal, 9 aerial duels won, couple of shots on target and did well generally.
I think Rice was worth more than Cheatarito so in the spirit of the above ratings, I give Niall a 6 …
Niall’s keyboard must be broken, only fives and sixes? Antonio, Anderson, Fabianski and Declan don’t deserve more?