Southampton held league leaders to a 1-1 draw in their own backyard this afternoon, following a battling performance from both sides in which neither could grind out a vital victory.
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Here’s how the Blues players rated:
Thibaut Courtois – 7
Unlucky not to get to Tadic’s penalty and imposed himself in a few goal mouth scrambles where other goalkeepers may have made mistakes.
Branislav Ivanovic – 6
Provided the assist for Costa’s headed opener and will feel annoyed not to have been awarded a penalty in the first half. Took an appalling dive in the second half though and offered little else.
John Terry – 6
Had a shocking miss in the last few minutes which would have won Chelsea the match, other than that did what he had to do to a reasonable standard.
Gary Cahill – 6
Was tested in a few goalmouth scrambles for Southampton and came out without conceding any goals. The defence looked shaky when tested by Tadic and Mane though.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6
Another player who did enough, but no more. Occasionally got forward and contributed defensively but did nothing especially impressive in the match.
Nemanja Matic – 5 (Ramires 53′)
Gave away the penalty on Mane in the first half and shouldn’t have gone to ground as rashly as he did in the box. Seemed at sea when Southampton came forward with their slick passing.
Cesc Fabregas – 7
Did what he was brought to Chelsea to do, and did it very well. Looks confident and assured on the ball and if they go on to win the title, Chelsea will have a lot to thank him for.
Willian – 7 (Cuadrado 83′)
Buzzed around the Southampton box and was a general irritant to the away side. Couldn’t get his shots off as much as he’d have liked and on another day would have run riot.
Oscar – 5 (Remy 82′)
Not a great day for the little Brazilian who looked invisible throughout the game bar a couple of poor attempts. He didn’t cope well with Southampton’s quick closing down game and looked out of his depth.
Eden Hazard – 8
Almost everything Chelsea created came from this man. The ball sticks to his feet like glue when he has it and Jose Mourinho will be delighted to have tied him down to a long term deal.
Diego Costa – 7
Ended his seven game goal drought with his header to open the scoring and threatened throughout with his bustling old fashioned style.
Subs:
Ramires – 6
Had relatively little impact on the game other than breaking up a few Southampton attacks. Wasn’t seen as in and around the danger areas.
Cuadrado – 6
Looked a small threat, but found it impossible to get into the game after coming on so late.
Remy – 6
Seems to have lost the golden touch he had at both QPR and Newcastle, but with very little time to make an impression it isn’t a surprise.