Chelsea beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium Of Light to go 6 points clear at the top of the Premier League table. The Blues were in the driver seat for most of the game bar a few shots by their opposition and mustered up a number of attacks but failed to put more than one past a stubborn Sunderland defence captained by John O’Shea.
The only goal of the game came from midfielder Cesc Fabregas who had come into the side without their go-to player Eden Hazard. Chelsea have now won 10 league games in a row and are looking to beat the Premier League consecutive win record held by Arsenal which stands at 14 games, set in 2002. Here are the Player Ratings, all based on 10.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 8
Courtois wasn’t troubled too much in the first half but in the second forty-five, he showed his class producing a top notch save on 47 minutes to deny Januzaj after Defoe slipped in the winger to the right of the box, almost 1v1 with Courtois, with Cahill and Luiz chasing back. He was ever present for corners gathering comfortably when possible.
Late into injury time, he proved why he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League with a fantastic save to deny ex-Chelsea youth product Patrick van Aanholt who struck a volley from outside the box. Nobody could believe that one stayed out, it was a top class save from Courtois and quite possibly the save of the season.
Cezar Azpilicueta – 8
Azpilicueta was at his no-nonsense best yet again. The Spaniard has proved to be the most consistent defenders in the league with his performances.
He almost never has a bad game. He made some essential blocks especially towards the end of the game around the 90th minute to concede a corner. He constructed attacks when needed and played the ball out of the back with ease and kept the Sunderland striker force at bay. Here were his stats from the game – 90% pass accuracy, 4 interceptions, 4 clearances, 3 tackles won 1 chance created.
David Luiz – 7
Luiz is absolutely relishing the sweeper role after Chelsea’s switch to a 3-4-3 under Antonio Conte. He was ever-present at the back to sweep off any attacks mustered by Sunderland whether down the flanks or through the middle.
He was resolute in the air and dictated passes from the back effortlessly as Jermain Defoe stood no chance against the Brazilian. In true David Luiz fashion, he even tried to score from a 35-yard free kick in the 38th minute.
Gary Cahill – 7
Chelsea’s captain under Antonio Conte had another good game. He negated Defoe and made smart professional fouls when needed and even won one particular free-kick in his own half. He made a crucial block from a Sunderland player’s shot in the second half, he wasn’t afraid to concede a corner when needed. He was tested a bit by Januzaj later in the game but it did not lead to a goal. It was an all round good game for the England International.
Victor Moses – 5.5
Moses had plenty of drive and willingness to get forward and support and performed his defensive duties satisfactorily but he was extremely wasteful with the ball. He took a number of shots that either went wide like in the 61st minute or went straight to Pickford in the Sunderland goal.
He put in an appalling cross in the first half and his final ball was quite woeful all night. Had he been more productive with the ball, perhaps Chelsea would have scored more goals. He picked up a yellow in the 90th minute and was replaced by Ivanovic. He needs to improve and not rest on his past laurels.
Marcos Alonso – 6
Marcos Alonso found a lot of space for himself in the first half on the left-hand side and did put in some quality crosses in the 27th and 30th minute but no Chelsea player got on the end of it. He was Chelsea’s biggest threat in the opening half an hour and had a shot on target in the 69th minute but he could’ve probably done more with the space he was offered by being more decisive.
N’Golo Kante – 7.5
N’Golo Kante was all over the pitch in another solid performance from the Frenchman. He bossed the midfield from beginning to end. The workhorse Kante, broke down most of Sunderland’s attacks and did all the defensive work for Fabregas to distribute passes all around.
What was particularly eye-catching was his ball winning just when Sunderland were trying to play out of their own half, he won most of the 50-50s he contested in and he even got a shot on target in the 70th minute. He is surely the new age Makelele but he can still take it up a gear though.
Cesc Fabregas – 8
29-year-old Cesc Fabregas has finally proven to Conte that he can win games when given the chance. He sprayed passes all around the pitch and always wanted the ball. While Luiz dictated play from the back, Fabregas did from midfield.
On the counter after stealing the ball in Sunderland’s half and playing a one-two with Willian, Fabregas slotted into goal from outside to box to cap off the move in the 40th minute. He also had a chance after Diego Costa put him in around the 88th minute but he could not strike the ball well enough with his left foot. His goal won Chelsea the game – An excellent performance from him and he should look to improve going forward.
Willian – 6.5
Willian had a strange night, he was part of most of Chelsea’s attacks but was not able to score or assist. He did hit the bar with a strike that deflected off Dilbodji and Fabregas put the Brazilian through but he could only muster a tame effort towards Pickford. He was substituted for Chalobah in the 89th minute.
Diego Costa – 7
Diego Costa has toned it down considerably, he was seen smiling and joking with the Sunderland defenders but that did not stop him from trying to bulldoze his way through a number of times. He tried his best to score but was not at his lethal best, his best chance came when Fabregas put him through after a delightful ball over the top but he was barged off the ball by Kone after going 1 v 1 and he was unlucky again in the 81st minute when he tried to head at goal, he did slide in Fabregas towards the end but it was a goal-less game from Costa and he should look to get back to his ferocious best.
Pedro – 5.5
In two words – Very ineffective. Pedro was simply overpowered by the Sunderland defenders and again like the West Brom game he could not do much to exert any influence on the game. He had a good chance after a fine Chelsea move but he skied his shot over the bar in the 71st minute. He was later substituted for Nemanja Matic in the 76th minute.
Substitutes
Nemanja Matic (76) – 6
Nemanja Matic came on for Pedro and did his job well enough, which was to make sure Chelsea kept the score at 1-0.
Nathaniel Chalobah (89) – 5
Came on in the 89th minute and ran about with energy
Branislav Ivanovic (90) – NA
Was just one for 3 minutes didn’t do anything but defend a corner.
Sunderland
Jordan Pickford – 7
Pickford was rather adventurous in the first half making a couple of clearances running outside his box but they did not backfire. He had absolutely no chance with the goal from Fabregas, even though he was outstretched. He did stop everything else Chelsea threw at him and kept the score at 1-0.
Billy Jones – 5.5
Jones had an average game, however, he did limit Marcos Alonso’s influence on the game but was rather subdued offering nothing going forward until he was forced off with an injury.
Lamine Kone – 6.5
Kone was perhaps Sunderland’s best defender on the night. He was strong in the air and was in charge of man-marking Costa. He challenged Diego Costa for everything and did not let the Spaniard score.
John O’Shea – 5.5
Played as part of the Sunderland back five as the third central defender and was somewhat the sweeper in that back-line. However, he was badly out of position for the Fabregas goal which created the 3 v 2 situation at the back for Sunderland. A costly mistake in an otherwise average game.
Papy Djilbodji – 6
Papy Djilbodji was Sunderland’s second best central defender on the night and Costa could not get the better of the ex-Chelsea player either with him winning the battle with the Spaniard. He was physical and cleared when needed.
Patrick Van Aanholt – 6
A Chelsea youth product ran up and down the flank tirelessly defending against Victor Moses and Willian but he did keep the Chelsea pair relatively at bay bar a few mistakes early on. His highlight came right at the death when he took a brilliant volley from outside the box after a Sunderland corner in the 92nd minute, but Courtois denied him with a brilliant save
Adnan Januzaj 6.5
Sunderland’s best player on the night was Januzaj. While the whole team was set up to defend Januzaj was the one bright spark going forward. He was sent through on the right side of the box by Jermain Defoe and took a shot which the Chelsea keeper used his feet to divert but at least he forced Courtois into a save. He troubled Cahill towards the end as well because of his pace but could not score a goal. However defensively he was poor and allowed Alonso to bomb forward far too easily.
Jason Denayer – 6.5
Denayer had a very busy evening in the middle of the park combating N’Golo Kante and Cesc Fabregas. He did, however, play good enough passes while in possession and was the reason for starting Sunderland’s attacks in the second half.
Jan Kirchoff – 5
Kirchoff worked quite hard in the centre of the park but he misplaced a lot of passes and was careless in possession, he could do nothing significant was clearly not fully match-fit and was taken off
Jermain Defoe – 6
Defoe has always been a poacher and he kept playing on the shoulder of the Chelsea defenders but was offered no service at all from his team-mates he did use his experience and awareness to set up Sunderland’s best chances for Januzaj and van Aanholt in the second half.
Fabio Borini – 5
He ran about making fouls and trying to make things happen but to no avail, this was his comeback after more than three months out because of injury and he looked extremely off the pace and understandably unfit.
Substitutes
Seb Larsson – 4
Larsson came on for Kirchhoff on the 57-minute mark and could make no impact whatsoever on the game.
Donald Love – 6
Love came on at the hour mark for Billy Jones and was useful at right-back negating Alonso much better than Jones as the Spaniard did not offer much in the second half. He won a number of headers as well and put in a good 33 minutes. He should probably start in their next game.
Wahbi Khazi – 4
Came on for Borini in the 82nd minute and disappeared.
