Chelsea Player Ratings
Petr Cech – 7
The goalkeeper only had a pair of pigeons for company a lot of the time but a few defensive hiccups led to Newcastle chances and Cech – managing to stay awake – stepped in when he needed to.
Branislav Ivanovic – 7
It’s been a good week for Ivanovic after scoring against Manchester City. The Serbian put in another solid display today and even managed to find a blue shirt with one of his crosses for Eden Hazard’s first goal.
Gary Cahill – 7.5
Has been in good form of late and perhaps had to be a little more aware in the absence of John Terry.
David Luiz – 7
Made a few errors and still commits himself too often but also made a lot of nice touches and helped spring a counter-attack for the second goal.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7
There’s no danger of the Spaniard losing his place in the side to Ashley Cole if he is going to keep up with his consistent displays.
Frank Lampard – 6.5
Got into some good areas early on in the game. He also had a number of shaky moments before he reigned it in and helped keep the midfield ticking over.
Nemanja Matic – 8
Chelsea haven’t really had a suitable combative midfielder in their squad since the departure of Michael Ballack, so Matic is a breath of fresh air and has enjoyed a good start to his second spell at the club.
Willian – 7.5
Has a good understanding with Hazard, worked hard and gave Newcastle’s defence problems.
Oscar – 5.5
Worked hard and picked a few passes but wasn’t anywhere near as influential as the other midfielders today and wasn’t alive in the final third. Quiet.
Eden Hazard – 9.5
Hat-trick hero. Followed his masterclass against Manchester City with a virtuoso display and Chelsea are lucky to have a player of his talent.
Samuel Eto’o – 7.5
Another good game for the Cameroon legend, even though he couldn’t find the mark himself today. Assisted Hazard for Chelsea’s second and won the penalty.
Subs:
Mohamed Salah
Came on in the final moments and missed a sitter. Wasn’t on the pitch long enough to judge.
Andre Schurrle
I think the only reason he was brought on was so Hazard could get the standing ovation he deserved.
Demba Ba
Came on to give Eto’o a little break and almost found the corner flag with one of his shots.
english media not genuine when rating david luiz.though he’s been very vital in all chelsea’s difficult matches he’s not been rated higher than either terry or cahill!
You guys are somewhat unfair to David luiz , he did real good, but look at the ratings so given to him….i disagree strongly…….even Oscar that tended to be unavailable was better off than lampard…..but again,see the ratings….