Chelsea increased their lead at the top of the Premier League to 11 points as they completed a routine victory over Swansea City. Cesc Fabregas put Chelsea in front in his 300th Premier League appearance, but Fernando Llorente equalised on the stroke of half-time by heading in from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick.
Pedro put the hosts back in front in the 72nd minute before Diego Costa sealed the points with a left-footed shot six minutes from time.
Also read: EPL 2016/17: Chelsea 3-1 Swansea, 5 Talking Points
Take a look at how the players fared in the game at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The goalkeeper didn’t have much to do the entire game and can’t be faulted for the goal his side conceded. However, he nearly gifted the Swans an equaliser at 2-1 as he failed to hold on to Sigurdsson's free-kick.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7/10
He was lucky not to have conceded a penalty from a handball with the score at 1-1. He made a couple of successful tackles to break rare Swansea attacks.
David Luiz – 7/10
He had an unspectacularly solid game, not giving the likes of Llorente and Siggurdson room to get a decent shot at goal.
Gary Cahill – 6.5/10
Though he had a good game overall, he could be considered responsible for failing to mark Llorente for the goal that got Swansea level.
Victor Moses – 7/10
Moses continued to be an important figure in Antonio Conte’s system, as he steamed down the right wing and put in quality crosses for Costa and Fabregas to attack against the Swans.
N’Golo Kante – 7/10
The French machine did his job as usual, running all around the middle of the pitch to intercept Swansea’s passes and win back possession for his side.
Cesc Fabregas – 8.5/10
The Spanish playmaker ran the show at Stamford Bridge, dictating play from midfield with his visionary passing and accurate crossing. As Swansea sat further back, he was directly involved in attacks. He scored an early goal, saw an effort well saved by Fabianski, and a fierce shot strike the crossbar. He may well replace Matic in Conte’s first XI for the foreseeable future.
Marcos Alonso – 7/10
Like Moses, Alonso continues to rise in stature under Conte, and he showed that in the game against Swansea, making useful runs down the left-hand flank and delivering crosses aplenty.
Pedro – 7.5/10
His goal was fortunate, as his curling effort squirmed under Fabianski and into the back of the net. His general game was excellent, though, as he moved the ball forward with intensity and completed one-on-one dribbles with ease.
Diego Costa – 7/10
Costa once again displayed his class as a top-notch centre-forward, scoring a goal and keeping possession of the ball around the edge of the box to torment the Swansea defence.
Eden Hazard – 8/10
It was yet another excellent performance from the Belgian, as he used his fleet-footedness to waltz past opposition players. Hazard delivered an emphatic cross for Diego Costa to score Chelsea’s third and wrap up the points.
Substitutes:
Nemanja Matic – 6.5/10
The Serbian did the job of seeing the game out by knocking the ball around in midfield and keeping possession for his side.
Kurt Zouma and Willian – N/A
The duo were brought on for the final five minutes with the tie done and dusted.
Swansea
Lukasz Fabianski – 5/10
Although he made a few good stops, he did make a crucial error as well as he allowed Pedro’s shot to slip through his hands which gifted Chelsea a 2-1 advantage.
Kyle Naughton – 5/10
Naughton found the duo of Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso too much to handle in his defensive area and could not contribute going forward whatsoever.
Federico Fernandez – 6/10
Fernandez kept his defence organised in the first half, but Chelsea’s attacking prowess and brilliant one-touch football was nearly impossible for him and Mawson to defend against as the game progressed.
Alfie Mawson – 6/10
Like Fernandez, a good first-half performance was quickly forgotten due to the increasing Chelsea pressure in the second half.
Martin Olsson – 5/10
The left-back found tracking Moses an extremely hard prospect on the night and rarely offered anything productive up the field.
Leroy Fer – 6/10
The Dutch midfielder tried his best to drive the Swans forward, but Kante was in no mood to compromise. Fer did show a couple of flashes of brilliance but could do nothing to help his side gain a hold on proceedings in the midfield.
Jack Cork – 6/10
Cork made a number of vital interceptions and tackles to frustrate Chelsea, however, the gulf in class became apparent as the game wore on and Cork began to fade away.
Tom Carroll – 6.5/10
Carroll was mostly resigned to defensive duties thanks to a dominant Chelsea performance, but he did offer a couple of potential goal-scoring opportunities via long balls for the likes of Llorente to exploit.
Wayne Routledge – 4/10
Routledge had a poor game, barely creating a chance in the attacking third. He lost possession often and was dealt with far too easily on numerous occasions.
Fernando Llorente – 7/10
Llorente took complete advantage of being unmarked to head in Sigurdsson’s free-kick to draw Swansea level with the last kick of the first half. He was hardly provided with any service ever since his goal, as Chelsea completely bossed the second half.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 7.5/10
The Icelander was easily Swansea’s best outfield player at Stamford Bridge. Sigurdsson used his expertise from dead ball situations to good effect by first delivering a free-kick from the centre-circle for his side’s leveller, before forcing a rare error from Courtois from another set-piece.
He also created a couple of opportunities from open play to give Swansea hope against the table-toppers.
Substitutes:
Jordan Ayew – 5/10
Ayew replaced Carroll as Swansea tried to mount a comeback in the final quarter of an hour, but could not assert any authority on the game.
Luciano Narsingh – 5/10
Narsingh came on for an ineffective Routledge but, like Ayew, fired a blank.
