Chelsea began the defence of their Premier League crown with a somewhat disappointing 2-2 draw against Swansea City on Saturday evening, as they twice threw away a lead.
Take a look at our player ratings for the game at Stamford Bridge as a number of key players fail to perform….
GK) Thibaut Courtois
The Belgian stopper appeared to pick up a knock in the warm up and it seemed to affect his performance in the first half as he would have been disappointed with the concession of the first Swansea equaliser.
Courtois day ended prematurely as he was shown a straight red card seven minutes after the interval and that compounded a bad day at the office for the Blues number one. 4/10.
RB) Branislav Ivanovic
It’s not very often that the Blues defender has a bad game, but he struggled with the pace and trickery of Swans winger Jefferson Montero and Ivanovic will be keen to move on as soon as possible. 3/10.
CB) Gary Cahill
Another one that is usually reliable for the Blues, but Cahill struggled with the physical presence of Bafetimbi Gomis and lost the Swans striker in the build up to the concession of the penalty and Courtois red card. 4/10.
CB) John Terry
Normally a rock at the back for the Blues, but Terry made a couple of uncharacteristic errors which almost proved costly. 5/10.
LB) Cesar Azpilicueta
The Spaniard was the best defender on show for the hosts as he dealt with the threat from Andre Ayew reasonably well, however, Azpilicueta should have tracked the winger’s run in the build up to the Swans’ first equaliser. 6/10.
MC) Cesc Fabregas
An unusually quiet game from Fabregas, who was pushed into a deep-lying position in midfield to accommodate in the inclusion of Oscar in the starting XI, but the Spanish playmaker was subdued and failed to have an influence on proceedings. 5/10.
MC) Nemanja Matic
The Serbian international failed to stamp his authority on the Swans’ midfield as he was constantly overrun in the engine room by Jonjo Shelvey, Jack Cork and Gylfi Sigurdsson. 5/10.
AMC) Oscar – MOTM
Easily the Blues’ best player as he broke the deadlock with a free-kick that evaded everyone in the area and was a constant thorn in the away side’s defence. Unlucky to be subbed for Asmir Begovic following Courtois red card. 7/10.
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AMR) Willian
Willian will always put in a good shift for the club given his amazing work rate, but despite having a hand in the Blues retaking the lead, the Brazilian didn’t offer much in an attacking sense and was replaced by Falcao in the closing stages. 6/10.
AML) Eden Hazard
Blues manager Jose Mourinho likened the young Belgian star to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo earlier in the summer, but judging by Hazard’s performance against Swansea he has a long way to go if he’s to break into that bracket. 4/10.
ST) Diego Costa
Costa was a welcome sight on the team-sheet for the home fans prior to kick-off, but he played as if he was still being troubled by the hamstring injury which disrupted his debut season in England. 5/10.