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| 1. FERNANDO TORRES - ST | 8.1 |
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Minutes played90
Touches29
Passes10*/13
Key Passes3
Shots3*/3
Lost ball6
People think it was the Zorres mask, but I'm starting to believe it was in fact all those Reuben sandwiches because since the home Europa League match vs. Rubin Kazan, Torres has been voted your Man of the Match more often than anybody else. Five times now he's occupied the top spot. Five! That's more often than David Luiz. More often than Oscar. More often than Hazard and Mata combined. Combined!
In those three months' worth of competitive Chelsea fixtures, Torres has made 18 rated appearances (and one non-rated) and won the vote almost a third of the time. More impressively, he's even scored eight times. If you squint just right, that's almost one-in-two! Positively apocalyptic. Should we be fearing for our species' survival?
So here he stands on the top for the first time this season with his first 8+ rating since going back-to-back vs. Benfica & Everton at the end of last season. Once we acknowledge the fact that yes, it was a goal and an assist and generally positively play against just League One Swindon, it's hard to argue that it's not deserved.
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| 2. RAMIRES - MC | 7.5 |
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Minutes played35
Touches35
Passes22*/25
Key Passes1
Shots1*/2
Succ. tackles4
Ramires didn't even play a full half, yet made all the difference in helping to create Chelsea's opener and sealing the deal with Chelsea's second goal of the match.
Thirty-five touches, thirty-five minutes - that's a better rate than Michael Essien even who had 83 in 90, all the while equalling the Chelsea captain's four tackles on the day (Azpilicueta led the day with five, while an honorary mention should go out to Juan Mata for his three).
Ramires looks set to miss the Spurs clash this weekend due to the injury he picked up in this one and I fear that might be a crucial loss for us as we look to put a damper on Spurs' early-season form.
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| 3. MARK SCHWARZER - GK | 7.3 |
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Minutes played90
Touches42
Saves3
Distribution14/24
Clearances2/2
Continuing the theme of voting goalkeepers into the top three, here's Schwarzer on his Chelsea debut!
A solid performance from the Aussie - including both dealing with crosses and making a few timely saves - certainly giving us a bit more confidence back there than we've had in the last few years having had to choose between Ross Turnbull and Henrique Hilario.
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OTHERS:
Bertrand (6.2), David Luiz (6.5), Cahill (6.3), Azpilicueta (6.6), Van Ginkel (5.5), Essien (7.0), Willian (5.3), Mata (6.8), De Bruyne (5.6)
SUBS:
Terry (6.4), Ba (5.7)