Chelsea cruised into a huge 4-0 victory over Stoke City at the Bet365 stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Spaniards stole the show, as Alvaro Morata’s hat-trick, Cesar Azpilicueta’s two assists and Pedro’s lovely goal were more than enough to earn the Blues three points.
Here are our player ratings of the intriguing clash against Stoke City…
Starting Eleven:
Thibaut Courtois – 7 – Wasn’t called to action too much on the first half, but got plenty of more to do on the second when Stoke began to seriously chase the game. The lanky Belgian was however in good form and able to keep the hosts scoreless. Suffered a knock on his head when landing awkwardly following a corner, but was able to carry on and played a big part in the win.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 9 – An amazing performance from Azpilicueta! His brilliant long ball for Morata to hand him the opener gave the players a huge confidence boost, and made the team’s job so much easier in the end. Also assisted Morata’s third with a nice pass on his chest. He was naturally the captain until Cahill came on after an hour of play. Great game.
Antonio Rudiger – 8 – Replaced Gary Cahill in the starting line-up as the skipper was dropped to the bench for today. Appeared lethal in the air and kept Stoke’s starman Xherdan Shaqiri rather quiet on his flank when cutting inside for his left. Later moved to a more central role which also seemed like a piece of cake for the German. Great hustle.
Andreas Christensen – 8 – Big start for the young Danish centre-back, replacing the injured and suspended David Luiz in a tight away tie like this. Has been quality throughout the season so far, and didn’t disappoint today, either. Very composed with the ball and brave when facing his opponents running at him. Deserves an eight.
Victor Moses – 7 – Good performance from the Nigerian, who returned to face his former loan side after given a rest over the midweek tie against Nottingham Forest. Wasn’t as much involved defensively as Alonso on the other side, which gave him much more freedom to run forward down the flank. He even got himself into a few nice goalscoring areas on the second half, and was close to assist Morata for his fourth of the noon. Good game.
Marcos Alonso – 5 – Alonso, who also missed last Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie, seemed rather confused on his comeback. The ex-Bolton man faced plenty of action on his side of the field against the likes of Shaqiri and Mame Diouf. He was the first Blue on the referee’s book after a poor tackle on Joe Allen, and was close to being sent off right after. Antonio Conte was reluctant of taking any risks with him, and decided to take him off after 59 minutes of play.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 8 – The big Frenchman did brilliantly to win the ball for his side to launch the quick counter attack that eventually led to Chelsea’s opening goal. He also assisted Morata’s second after cutting the pass in midfield. Solid performance from Baka, lovely to watch.
N’Golo Kante – 7 – Great game as usual – no real errors and some great passes to open up the play from the back. However, got penalized following a tactical foul after losing the ball ahead of a Stoke counter. Was also fouled harshly by Peter Crouch, but the Englishman’s tackle – worth a red card to be honest – wasn’t enough to damage the Frenchman.
Pedro – 8 – Pedro already scored his first goal of the season against Qarabag FK, but the Spaniard was yet to bag one in the league before today. Now he foresaw Darren Fletcher’s backpass and was quick to get on the end of it, dribbling the ball into the edge of the area where the ex-Barca winger made no mistake to put Chelsea 2-0 ahead. He was also very good creating chances at the attacking area, and it will be exciting to see him in action with Eden Hazard once he’s fit. Pedro was eventually eplaced by Fabgreas 20 minutes before the end of the game to get rest ahead of our CL tie against Atletico Madrid.
Willian – 6 – Struggled to make an impression today. Lost the ball rather often to offer Stoke easy turnovers, but luckily none of those mistakes proved to be costly. Subbed off for Hazard 15 minutes before full-time.
Alvaro Morata – 10 – MOTM – Morata was quickly off the mark as the Spaniard attacker scored his first Chelsea goal without using his head inside just two minutes of play! A brilliant finish after controlling Azpilicueta’s through ball superbly. His early goal was not enough for the former Madridista, as he bursted forward to score a stunning solo-goal on the second half before completing his hat-trick with a simple tap-in minutes before full-time. A Man of the Match performance from the striker, who is shaping up to be a fantastic signing for the club.
Substitutes:
Gary Cahill – 6 – Came on on the hour mark to replace booked Alonso. After taking the armband from Azpilicueta. Didn’t really fit into the left centre-back’s position – where Luiz usually plays – but was able to keep Stoke scoreless. Was lucky not to concede a penalty after a questionable foul on Eric Choupo-Moting.
Cesc Fabregas – 6 – Came on for his countryman Pedro on the 67th minute to add more creativity and defensive awarness to the middle of the park. Good cameo.
Eden Hazard – 6 – Played a brilliant one-two with Moses inside the Stoke box, but Glen Johnson’s heroic goal-line clearance prevented Chelsea’s fourth. Otherwise, he didn’t have much to be involved with his small amount of playing time.
Don’t forget to check out our Match Report of the match should you have missed it!
