Chelsea Player Ratings Against Newcastle United – Drogba Shows Why He Is Still The King

Chelsea slumped to their first defeat of the season when they lost 2-1 to Newcastle. The Magpies got both their goals through Papiss Cisse and a late Didier Drogba goal gave some hope to the league leaders. Although Newcastle were reduced to 10 men for the final 10 minutes of the game, it was not enough for Chelsea to get a second goal and keep their unbeaten run going.

The loss was Chelsea’s only defeat of the season in the league and squashed talks about Chelsea becoming the new “invincibles” something that Arsenal had achieved. This loss will also give hope to the chasing pack who are trying to reduce the gap to the team from London.

Here are the Chelsea player ratings from the game.

Thibaut Courtois: 5/10

Courtois didn’t have to do much in the game; he couldn’t have done much to stop the Newcastle goals and wasn’t tested apart from the 2 goals which he conceded.

Branislav Ivanovic: 6/10

Ivanovic was industrious down the right side and did alright for Chelsea during the game. Ivanovic came more into the game after Newcastle were down to 10 men but by that time the damage was already done.

John Terry: 5/10

A couple of instances when the captain lost his concentration and Newcastle scored in both the situations; he had a hard time dealing with the physicality of Cisse, who scored both the goals.

Gary Cahill: 4/10

The other centre back didn’t fare any better against Newcastle and was partially at fault for the second goal when he didn’t track the free Cisse who slotted in the second goal.

Cesar Azpilicueta: 4/10

Azpilicueta was pulled out in the 67^th minute to bring on Felipe Luis; the Spaniard didn’t wow anyone during the game and didn’t pose much of a threat to the Newcastle defence during the game.

John Obi Mikel: 6/10

Mikel didn’t do enough to stake a claim to Matic’s starting spot as the holder in midfield, but he did have a decent game for the Blues.

Cesc Fabregas: 6/10

The Spaniard was a little off colour in this game and was not at his best during the first half. However, he did get an assist for the goal which Drogba scored but this was a quiet game from the Chelsea midfielder after setting such high standards in the previous games.

Willian: 5/10

A disappointing performance from the Brazilian, Willian didn’t offer much to Chelsea on the right wing in terms of creativity. He was workmanlike but Chelsea needed more than that against Newcastle and he was brought off for Drogba in the second half.

Oscar: 5/10

Another Chelsea player who was off colour, Oscar didn’t seem up for the game and was bullied out of the game from Newcastle pretty early on.

Eden Hazard: 7/10

The only bright spark that Chelsea had in their starting line-up, Hazard was electric on the left wing and tormented the Newcastle defence throughout the night; he was unlucky to hit the post in the second half and created a lot of chances for the Chelsea forwards.

Diego Costa: 6/10

A disappointing afternoon for the Spanish striker, Costa was ineffective as the lone Chelsea attacker and even when he partnered Drogba upfront he was marshalled well by the Newcastle centre backs.

Substitutes

Didier Drogba: 8/10

The striker came on in the second half and was brilliant for Chelsea, he scored in the second half to give Chelsea some hope and was a constant threat, especially when Newcastle were down to 10 men.

Andre Schurrle: 5/10

Schurrle wasn’t as much of a threat as Hazard and was slightly more an attacking threat than Willian.

Felipe Luis: 6/10

Didn’t really have time to do much, was decent enough at the back for Chelsea.