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Aug 8, 2015 at 5.30pm UK
 
SL

2-2

Oscar (23'), Fernandez (30' og.)
FT(HT: 2-1)
Ayew (29'), Gomis (55' pen.)

Player Ratings: Chelsea 2-2 Swansea City

:Headline: Player Ratings: Chelsea 2-2 Swansea City: ID:237969: from db_amp
Sports Mole analyses how the players fared in Chelsea's opening-day draw with Swansea City at Stamford Bridge.

Ten-man Chelsea held Swansea City to a 2-2 draw in their Premier League opener at Stamford Bridge tonight.

An Oscar free kick and a Federico Fernandez own goal, either side of Andre Ayew's equaliser, saw the champions boast a slender lead at the break.

Thibaut Courtois saw red on 52 minutes for fouling Bafetimbi Gomis inside the box, before the Frenchman rolled home an equaliser to earn a point.

Here, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains in West London.




CHELSEA

Goal

Thibaut Courtois: Pulled off a fine stop to keep out Gomis just before Ayew's equaliser, but was then uncharacteristically reckless in conceding the penalty and being sent off. (4/10)

Defence

Branislav Ivanovic: Will not look forward to the return fixture after struggling to contain the problematic Montero throughout. (5/10)

Gary Cahill: Blocked Fabianski in the build-up to Oscar's opener but could have been tighter to Gomis in the build-up to Courtois's dismissal. (5/10)

John Terry: Booked and looked slightly off the pace at times. He will improve but Chelsea cannot afford too many games like that from their skipper this season. (5/10)

Cesar Azpilicueta: Occasionally struggled with the trickery of Andre Ayew but overall was one of Chelsea's better players on the day. (6/10)

Midfield

Nemanja Matic: His usual imposing self but at times found himself over-run in midfield until Zouma replaced Fabregas to help him out. (6/10)

Cesc Fabregas: Struggled to have much of an influence in the final third as he often got crowded out in midfield. Subbed on the hour mark. (5/10)

Willian: Had a big role in the second goal as it was his cross that deflected off Fernandez and looped over Fabianski. (6/10)

Oscar: Courted plenty of fouls and produced a number of excellent deliveries from dead-ball situations. Opened the scoring and was certainly Chelsea's best player. Unlucky to be sacrificed when Courtois went off. (7/10)

Eden Hazard: Looked relatively lifeless until springing to life in the final 10 minutes but it was too late for the Blues to snatch the win. (5/10)

Attack

Diego Costa: Lacked service throughout and no real goalscoring chances by virtue of Swansea's back four. (5/10)

Substitutes

Asmir Begovic: Could do little about the penalty but pulled off a series of fine stops to salvage a point for Chelsea in the end. Fine cameo. (7/10)

Kurt Zouma: Replaced Fabregas and sat with Matic in midfield as they proved successful in stemming the visitors' momentum a little. (7/10)



SWANSEA

Goal

Lukasz Fabianski: Was partially unsighted for Oscar's goal but could do very little about the second as it looped over his head and into the net. (6/10)

Defence

Kyle Naughton: Excelled in the unenviable task of keeping PFA Player of the Year Hazard quiet for the most part. (7/10)

Federico Fernandez: Brilliant performance despite the own goal, which would be dreadfully unfair to blame him for. Along with Williams, kept Costa out of the game. (7/10)

Ashley Williams: Proved a worthy adversary for the fiery Costa as he and Fernandez refused to give the Spain striker a sniff at goal throughout. (7/10)

Neil Taylor: Got forward excellently and produced a number of fine deliveries from left-back but the visitors could not utilise them. (7/10)

Midfield

Ki Sung-Yueng: Only lasted some 42 minutes before being replaced by the brilliant Cork. Had one shot that stung the gloves of Courtois. (6/10)

Jonjo Shelvey: Was lethal with his passing throughout and supplied the excellent over-the-top ball that Gomis latched on to in the build-up to the game-changing moment. (7/10)

Jefferson Montero: Gave Ivanovic headache after headache and was unlucky not to score by forcing Begovic into a number of tidy saves. Comfortably man of the match tonight. (8/10)

Andre Ayew: His first taste of English football but did not look overly perturbed by the physicality of England's top flight and gave as good as he got. Finished the game with a bandage over his eye and a classy debut goal under his belt. (7/10)

Gylfi Sigurdsson: Like Hazard, did not surface until late on. Swansea may have left with three points had he been on his game tonight. (5/10)

Attack

Bafetimbi Gomis: A game of two halves from the Frenchman, who missed two sitters and conceded the free kick that led to the goal, but also played a role in the first equaliser, before winning and scoring the penalty to level up again. (7/10)

Substitutes

Wayne Routledge: His replacement of Montero looked risky by Monk but the little winger did enough to vindicate his manager with an exciting cameo. (6/10)

Jack Cork: Superb performance after replacing Ki shortly before the break. He pulled off a number of vital tackles and used the ball well in possession. (7/10)

Eder: Given his Premier League debut but struggled to have the same impact as fellow debutant Ayew. (4/10)


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