Player Ratings: Chelsea 4 – 0 Spurs – Saturday 8th March, 2014

 By Ross Mooring

Another comfortable win, another good defensive display and another three points! Chelsea keep winning without playing their best football, but in a manner which suggests Jose Mourinho and his players know exactly what to do and how to go about doing it. In contrast to the opposite dugout in which Tim Sherwood looked dumbfounded by events, Jose barely had to delve into his box of tricks to turn the game in Chelsea’s favour. (And a debatable penalty decision helped too.)

Tottenham edged the first half against Chelsea’s modified 4-3-3 (Ramires, Matic and Lampard rotated their shape at will) with a composed 40 minutes after the Blues started fast out of the gate. However, Chelsea stayed resolute and while Spurs threatened they couldn’t unlock the home defence. In attack, apart from that early burst, Chelsea were generally too deep to counter into dangerous areas, which caused a reliance on longer passes with a low success rate.

The second half was a different kettle of fish with the switch to 4-2-3-1 and introduction of Oscar allowing Chelsea to play more in Tottenham’s half. However, it wasn’t until Samuel Eto’o capitalised on two hilarious Vertonghen errors in the space of half a second, followed by a soft-ish penalty on the Cameroonian that Chelsea were able to demonstrate their deserved status as league leaders as they killed the game off.

With the red card, Chelsea cantered to the finish line to extend their home league record over Tottenham to 24 games without defeat and Demba Ba showed his value as an alternative to Torres and Eto’o with two well taken goals.

Ratings:

Petr Cech 7

Even with Spurs shading the first half, big Pete had very little to do. Saved excellently from Sandro low down to his right.

Branislav Ivanovic 6

Both Brana and Azpi stuck to their guns, with the aim of closing off space for Tottenham’s attacking players. The Serbian didn’t get forward as he usually does.

Gary Cahill 6

Had a shaky 10 minute period during the first half when Bentaleb got through in the left channel only to shoot wide, but other than that played his part in what is a very sound partnership with Terry.

John Terry 7

Calm and composed for the full game, Terry stood out in the first half with a series of commanding headers from the back.

Cesar Azpilicueta 7

Another masterclass in defending your flank from Azpi, who didn’t give any ground on the left. Has developed the physical side of his game this season and still has that quickness about him too. And he’s not even playing in his natural position.

Ramires 6

Tricky one for the Brazilian in his role as the furthest midfielder forward, his main task being to harry the opposition and lead breaks, which Chelsea as a team weren’t able to do. Improved in the second half, as did the team collectively.

Nemanja Matic 8 – Man of the Match

Matic won’t get the headlines for his performance (Penalty – Eto’o – Ba !!!) but his shielding of the back four from a central midfield position kept Tottenham at arm’s length. The Serbian’s strength, deft running and consistent range of passing is a showcase for today’s modern midfielder as a true all rounder. And Matic does it all without breaking a sweat.

Frank Lampard 6

Very similar display to the Man City home game earlier this season when Spurs’ pass and move approach in the first 45 meant Lampard could not set the tempo. Still, didn’t really put a foot wrong.

Andre Schurrle 6

A mixed bag from the German, but his energy and presence helped out his teammates on one or two occasions. Still a work in progress in attack.

Eden Hazard 7

With the Blues content to jab at Spurs for much of the game, Hazard had fewer opportunities to threaten in the final third than he usually does. The Belgian played Eto’o in inside 30 seconds, almost scored himself and generally oozed class when on the ball, even in tricky situations. Clipped in the penalty.

Samuel Eto’o 8

Eto’o was in on goal and onside only for the assistant ref to incorrectly rule against him before returning the favour to Hazard, all in the first 4 minutes. The Cameroonian wasn’t able to get involved after that apart from running a good chance wide, until in the second half he poached the goal that swung the game in Chelsea’s favour with a double-nutmeg through defender and goalkeeper. Canny piece of play to win the penalty too.

Substitutes:

Oscar 7

Oscar’s introduction at the break altered the balance of the game and his movement off the ball stretched Spurs’ midfield. His passing was good too.

Willian 7

A couple of darting runs and he created one or two half chances.

Demba Ba 9

Did practically nothing until he showed his boss how strikers score goals with two opportunistic, well improvised finishes. Would be a man of the match candidate were the game not already won when he came on with 15 minutes to go.

Don’t forget to tune in at 19.00-21.00 GMT on Monday 8th March for “Top of the Poppers!” – The Chelsea FanCast #279, when we will be discussing Ross’ Player Ratings on sportstonightlive.com, mixlr.com or watch live here