Player Ratings: Chelsea and Gary Cahill endure a disastrous night at Spurs Chelsea were left stunned and clinging to the summit of the Premier League as Tottenham ran out 5-3 winners in a pulsating London derby at White Hart Lane. Having lorded it over Spurs for so long, perhaps an element of complacency crept into the Blues mind-set. At 1-0 up courtesy of Diego Costas opener, Tottenham heads seemed to drop -- apart from Harry Kane. The Spurs striker decided to take the Chelsea defence on by himself and punished them time and again to the point of embarrassment. Politely speaking, Gary Cahill had a nightmare game against the youngster and his normally obdurate colleagues at the back, Branislav Ivanovic and captain John Terry, fared little better. Chelseas defence has shortcomings that can be exposed by pace and guile. Spurs had that in abundance and Jose Mourinho will do well to review his favoured defensive template immediately. Player Ratings (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating): GK Thibaut Courtois, 5 -- Made an important save from Nacer Chadli with the game still goalless and Spurs pressing. Could do nothing about Kanes equaliser when the defence in front of him allowed him too much time on the ball to pick his spot and score. It would be unfair to hold the Blues stopper accountable for the capitulation that followed. DF Branislav Ivanovic, 4 -- An evening to forget for the Serb, who was run ragged by Christian Eriksen and Chadli. Buccaneering runs down the right flank were noticeably absent. DF John Terry, 5 -- Chelseas captain is man enough to shoulder the blame alongside his central defensive partner Cahill for failing to shackle Kane. His late goal will provide cold comfort. DF Gary Cahill, 3 -- Clumsy, ponderous performance from the England centre-half who was completely outclassed by Kane. Conceded the crucial penalty just before the interval that handed Spurs a 3-1 lead and never regained his composure. DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 5 -- Mourinhos long experiment playing the Spaniard as an out-of-position left-back might be at an end. Given Ivanovics troubles on the right flank against quick opponents and the availability of Filipe Luis to cover the left side of defence, a permanent move to the right could be in the offing. MF Nemanja Matic, 5 -- Not the Matic that Chelsea supporters have taken to their hearts. Looked pedestrian once Spurs seized the midfield initiative. MF Cesc Fabregas, 5 -- Lacked his customary composure and vision. Started brightly, played some delightful passes through to Costa and Eden Hazard but faded as the game ran away from Chelsea. An impressive 14th assist for the season when teeing up Hazard for the Blues second goal becomes a meaningless statistic when viewed in context of the result. MF Willian, 5 -- Anonymous performance from the Brazil international who looked out of sorts and showed little endeavour to try to rescue Chelseas cause. MF Oscar, 4 -- Allowed Kane too much time on the ball when the Spurs striker eventually picked the Blues defensive lock to equalise. Miscued a couple of chances and was replaced at half-time after an ineffective 45 minutes. MF Eden Hazard, 8 -- Tormentor-in-chief of the Spurs back line, the fleet-footed Belgium international skinned the home defence to strike the post in a move that concluded with Costa opening the scoring for the Blues. Was never going to rescue the creeping deficit on his own. FW Diego Costa, 6 -- Was in the right place to put Chelsea 1-0 up, but was effectively feeding off scraps as Fabregas had an off night. Led the line well but failed to pressure the Spurs defence into telling mistakes in the final third of the pitch. Substitutes MF Ramires, 6 -- Replaced Oscar at half-time. Added much-needed physicality to Chelseas midfield but not the creativity that was required to change the course of the game. MF Mohamed Salah, 5 -- Replaced Willian for the last 20 minutes and it was a curious substitution by Mourinho given his lack of game time. Failed to make an impact, which was no surprise really. #espn
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 07:29:56 +0000
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