Chelsea Player Ratings Against Arsenal And Di Matteo Press Conference

Chelsea came out of the emirates with all three points maintaining their perfect start to the campaign and went three points clear off the top of the table. Here is a look at how the players fared against Arsenal: 

Petr Cech – 8.5

A man of the match performance from the ever so reliable Cech. The goal keeper made some excellent stretches to deny Podolski and Giroud, which made sure the Blues to cross the line with all the 3 points. 

Branislav Ivanovic – 7

The Serbian hardly put a foot wrong keeping Podolski at bay for most part of the game. Did not go forward as expected but did his defensive duties excellently. A decent performance from Ivanovic.

David Luiz – 8.5

The Brazilian proved his talents, commanding the Chelsea box with excellent tackles. Though he tried to win a penalty be diving, Luiz proved to be an attacking threat in Chelsea’s set pieces and cab easily be said as the best defender of the game.  

John Terry – 7

Terry’s first game since his trial went calmly without any talking points. 

Ashley Cole – 8

The most difficult place to visit for Cole is the Emirates and the 31-year-old managed to see off the match with just about perfection. 

Ramires – 8

It appears the Brazilian midfielder has reverted to his preferred position of a central midfielder and it suits him as he regularly won the ball and rampaged forward to initiate several Chelsea counter-attacks. 

John Obi Mikel – 7

The one problem with Chelsea right now is their play which comes through the middle. Mikel is awfull in shooting from long distance and so is his passing when it comes to fast counter attacks. Otherwise had a average game in the middle of the park. 

Eden Hazard – 8.5

Hazard has been a tremendous addition, not only to the Blues but for the Premier league.  The Belgian’s footwork is always a  joy to watch as he made life difficult for Jenkinson and Gibbs. The perfect example of his nibble footwork could be seen in the 38th minute when he ran till the byline and feinted a cross, sending the diving Gibbs crashing towards the advertising hoardings. 

Oscar – 7

Not the best of the games from the youngster. An array of initial errors earned him a yellow card and the player was regularly muscled off the ball by Arteta and Ramsey in the midfield.

Juan Mata – 8.5

Mata proved a point or two to Di Matteo and a few fans who had a doubt on the player. It was from his free kicks that Arsenal’s defense was undone. The Spaniard had a excellent game. 

Fernando Torres – 7.5

Scored the opening goal of the game from Mata’s free kick , made some excellent runs inside the box, good one touch passing with Mata and Hazard but there is still something missing from the Spaniard. Decent game overall. 

Di Matteo Press Conference: 

“I am pleased today with the way we have played away today because that gives the team a lot of confidence and belief that we can play differently.

“And we have to — we have to try and improve and change our style.

“We’ve had a good start and hopefully we can build on that. But we also know how much work we have to do to integrate our new players and make them understand the system that we want to play and how we play.”