Chelsea played a snowball of a game against Maccabi Tel-Aviv to notch a win in the Champions League and get one step closer to a return to the group stage. They started slow, got better and better as the game went on and ended in an avalanche of scoring that the hapless Israeli side could not hope to defend against – especially with only ten players following a red card.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv put up a valiant effort, but it wasn’t good enough to get the ball past the defenders or goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who was phenomenal during the second half.
Gary Cahill would notch the first goal to give Chelsea a 1-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Maccabi took advantage of several big mistakes by Eden Hazard to set up scoring opportunities but ultimately came up short.
Chelsea, on the other hand, did not come up short as Willian and Oscar made mincemeat out of the tiring Maccabi defence to add a goal apiece to the Israeli side’s woes.
With Maccabi hoping they could just run out the clock, Kurt Zouma decided to get in on the scoring frenzy as well, and knocked in a header to seal Chelsea’s second consecutive 4-0 win against the Israeli team.
Here are the Chelsea player ratings from their dominating performance against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Champions League:
SEE MORE:
Barcelona Player Ratings Roma
Barcelona Roma Twitter Reaction
Barcelona Roma Highlights
GK Asmir Begovic – 8/10
Begovic was not tested at all in the first half but showed off his skills in the second on several really good saves.
DF Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10
Good game for Azpilicueta, who had a shot of his own plus some tackles and a cleared ball.
DF Gary Cahill – 8.5/10
Cahill clearly made a case for a return to the Premier League. Between his defending and the great effort on his goal, he put on a great performance.
DF John Terry – 7/10
Cleared the ball four times and was a wall against an eager group of Maccabi attackers. That leg injury looked serious and resulted in his early departure from the pitch.
DF Baba Rahman – 7/10
Rahman was almost burned early on a scoring chance by Maccabi. Only the sheer inaccuracy of the shot saved a goal. But he still dominated as a tackler.
MF Cesc Fabregas – 7.5/10
Dominated ball control and was accurate for most of the game.
MF Matic – 6.5/10
A very quiet day for Matic who barely appeared on the stat sheet besides for his passing.
MF Oscar – 7.5/10
Oscar got injured early in the first half but seemed capable of playing, but it seemed like his speed was off. He came to life in the final fifteen minutes to add to the scoring frenzy.
MF Hazard – 5/10
Not really sure how to grade Hazard here. On one hand he was constantly in Maccabi’s box, on the other hand he could do virtually nothing with the ball in his possession. His streak of games without a goal increased to 20 after being subbed in the middle of the second half.
MF Willian – 9/10
Narrowly off-target with a free kick for the first time in what seems like the entire season, Willian redeemed himself put the game on ice with a big score at the 73′ mark.
FW Diego Costa – 6/10
For once it was Costa getting the decisions as opposed to the other way around – Mourinho is probably going to request this officiating crew return with him to England. Kidding aside, Costa did not have too much impact on the game.
Substitutes:
Pedro – 7/10
Subbing in for the under-performing Eden Hazard, the energy Pedro brought to the field was incredible as the team immediately scored two more goals
Kurt Zouma – 8/10
Replacing the injured John Terry, Zouma played like a man possessed on his goal, rising way above the nearby defenders to make the final score 4-0.
Remy – 1/10
Came on in the last few minutes for Willian and nearly gave the Maccabi goalkeeper a severe head injury on an ill-advised header that went nowhere near the ball.