Chelsea Vs. Napoli: Player Ratings

Today marks the first edition of the new community player ratings, and it looks as though they were a big success. Several hundred readers participated in the ratings, so I think we've got a nice sample to play with (and we didn't even get that much trolling!). I've added my comments and my own ratings as well, so dig in after the jump.

Petr Cech - 8.03

Cech did virtually everything right for the full two hours on the pitch, saving well from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik in the early stages, although Edinson Cavani had a good chance to expose him in the first half as well. He was at no fault for Gokhan Inler's goal, controlled the penalty box, for the most part, and his distribution was superb, allowing Chelsea to move the ball up the pitch very quickly. Nice work by Petr. Graham says: 7.

Ashley Cole - 7.17

A relatively quiet game from Cole, but as soon as Christian Maggio came off he didn't really have much work to do. Did his part in dealing with Hamsik and linked well with Ramires, but nothing particularly special from the left back. Graham says: 7.

John Terry - 8.72

Terry had a strong match, doing well in keeping Edinson Cavani quiet and, of course, scoring the goal that made it 2-0 just after halftime. There wasn't much he did wrong, although his poor clearance from Andrea Dossena's cross did set up Inler for Napoli's goal. His passing, as ever, was superb. Graham says: 8.

David Luiz - 8.59

It was a superb defensive performance by the much-maligned David Luiz. He won the ball nine times (five interceptions, four tackles), blocked three shots and successfully cleared the ball seven times. Couple that with his assured passing from the back, and you get a player who looks like he was worth every penny of the sum Chelsea paid Benfica a year ago. Graham says: 8.

Branislav Ivanovic - 8.70

A tremendous game from the right back, who terrorised Napoli after Juan Zuniga was moved out of his way. Helped keep Lavezzi quiet, but was more noticeable going forward. Although his crosses were nothing to write home about, he won the penalty for the third goal via header and then, of course, scored the winner from a Didier Drogba pullback with a striker's finish from the centre of the box. By then, he'd been moved to centre back, where he and David Luiz comfortably saw out the attempted Napoli comeback. Graham says: 9.

Michael Essien - 7.12

A poor first half from Essien saw Napoli nearly overrun the Blues in the centre before the midfielder regrouped and started to play effective football. Good positioning in the pivot, strong passing, but not a game the midfielder will be too happy with - the early struggles to retain possession could really have hurt us. Graham says: 6.

Frank Lampard - 8.18

A superb display from Lampard, who was effective on both sides of the ball. Completely shut down Walter Gargano, who acts as the central conduit for Napoli's play, and contributed heavily to the attack as well, completing 54 passes, getting an assist on the Terry goal, and converting the penalty that forced the match to extra time. Anyone still doubting that Lampard can play deeper in midfield? Graham says: 9.

Ramires - 8.09

An energetic display from the Brazilian, who was key in Chelsea's opener and the winner. While he looked possibly outmatched by Maggio early on (or, at least, unsure of where he was supposed to be playing), Ramires soon settled in and delivered a lovely cross for Didier Drogba to put away for goal number one. When Maggio was forced off, Ramires proceded to devour Zuniga, and did the same to Dossena when he was moved over there. His pass to Dorgba just prior to Ivanovic's winner was absolutely sublime. Graham says: 8.

Juan Mata - 7.07

Not an excellent display from Mata, presumably because Chelsea were so focused on moving the ball down the flanks that they ignored the centre. Did well enough, I suppose, and put more pressure on Napoli's midfielders than we're used to seeing from him, but not Mata at his brilliant best. Gave the ball away a lot. Graham says: 6.

Daniel Sturridge - 6.30

Sturridge really should have been the answer against the miserable Salvatore Aronica, but one again he failed to do much of the way of impressing. Had an early shot well saved by Morgan de Sanctis, but otherwise was almost totally missing. 18 passes and one shot on target is not an acceptable return for a forward after an hour of play. Replaced by Fernando Torres, and the team got better. That's a worrying sign for Sturridge. Graham says: 4.

Didier Drogba - 9.21

Superb from Drogba, who demolished the Napoli back line. Aroncia couldn't touch him. Neither could captain Paolo Cannavaro. His run made the first goal, his brilliant pullback made the winner. Zonal Marking talked about Drogba's play at length during his analysis of the match, so I won't repeat it, but that might have been the best performance we've seen from a Chelsea centre forward all season. Wonderful stuff, even if he did miss a clear chance to wrap things up right at the death. Graham says: 10.

Fernando Torres - 7.46

A good shift by Torres, despite the open goal miss. Worked hard, won the ball, generally did interesting things with it, and wasn't afraid to shoot. Granted, he didn't actually look that good at doing the strikery things he's supposed to, but this was a major improvement on the dismal displays he's been putting in recently. And yes, he should have scored. Graham says: 7.

Florent Malouda - 6.62

Malouda's been poor this season, and once he came on he wasn't much involved. He shut down Zuniga just fine but barely touched the ball - most of the play was going on on the right or via long balls up the middle, so he couldn't really make his stamp on the game. That may or may not be a good thing. Graham says: Incomplete.

Jose Bosingwa - 6.41

Yeah I don't actually remember anything Bosingwa did. Apparently he intercepted the ball once and made three complete passes in five attempts. On the plus side, he didn't even think about attempting a cross. Good job, Jose! Graham says: Incomplete.