Chelsea and Stoke played out an entertaining draw at Stamford Bridge which saw Bertrand Traore put The Blues ahead late in the first half only for Mame Biram Diouf to pull one back for The Potters late on.
Here are the player ratings for the game –
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The Belgian shot stopper had a reasonably quiet outing where he wasn’t tested for vast periods in the game.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7/10
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Chelsea’s most consistent defender this season was deployed in his original role of right back against the Potters and provided yet another standout performance at the back for The Blues with some fantastic tracking back coupled with great support while pushing ahead.
Branislav Ivanovic – 6.5/10
The big Serb has thrived in this central defensive role after spending months looking out of touch on the wings and had another good performance at the back albeit with a few nervy moments.
Gary Cahill – 7/10
The England centre-back would have been relishing this opportunity to get more game time ahead of the Euros this year and provided a fantastic performance that would only further his prospects in the eyes of England manager Roy Hodgson.
Baba Rahman – 5.5/10
The Ghanaian had a woeful outing last weekend against Southampton and was dropped to the bench for the game against Norwich. He provided an improved showing against Stoke however his defensive skills still remain his weakest asset.
Nemanja Matic – 6.5/10
The Serbian holding midfielder has been a shadow of himself this season and has lost his place in the team to John Obi Mikel so it was clear that he had a point to prove this game against the Potters and did a good job in the centre of the pitch for The Blues with some good tackles and through balls.
John Obi Mikel – 6/10
The Nigerian has enjoyed a renaissance under Guus Hiddink with good, settled performances being rewarded with regular game time. His performance in the game however wasn’t his best as he didn’t get to see as much of the ball as he would have liked however he was composed whenever he did get the ball.
Willian – 7/10
Chelsea’s standout player this season by a mile once again showcased how valuable he is to this Chelsea team with the Brazilian dancing through the Stoke defence on numerous occasions and always remaining a threat while pushing ahead.
Oscar – 6.5/10
The attacking midfielder had a good game with some fine passes in the final third along with some good link up play with Hazard and Willian.
Eden Hazard – 6.5/10
The Belgian has looked thoroughly out of sorts for the majority of this season but recent performances coupled with an injury to Pedro have allowed the Belgian some much-needed game time. He, however provided a much-improved performance with some fine runs while pushing ahead and looks to be getting back to his best.
Bertrand Traore – 7.5/10
The young man from Burkina Faso was given a start in his preferred central striker position and made the most of it with a brilliantly taken goal late in the first half. He’s certainly one of Chelsea’s brightest prospects.
Substitutes –
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 6/10
Had some good runs on the ball and did a decent job of tracking back. Will certainly amount to greater things if provided more valuable game time.
Loic Remy – 5/10
Largely ineffectual, however that can be down to Chelsea shutting up shop by the time he came on which limited his opportunities.
Cesc Fabregas – N/A
Came on for Matic in the 82nd minute.
Stoke City
Jack Butland – 6/10
The English goalkeeper has been a revelation this season with some magnificent performances throughout the campaign certainly earning him a good shot at making England’s Euro 2016 Squad. Had a quiet game where he couldn’t have done much to prevent Traore’s opener.
Erik Pieters – 7/10
Was given the tough task of trying to control Chelsea’s man of the season – Willian, but did a good job in controlling the majority of the attacks initiated by Chelsea’s attacking quartet and provided Arnautovic with some fantastic support while going ahead.
Marc Muniesa – 6/10
Stoke’s Spanish import has had better games in a Stoke shirt where he was guilty of some sloppy errors at the back and was lucky to not conceded a penalty for his challenge on Oscar.
Philip Wollscheid – 6.5/10
Another decent performance from the Stoke centre-back where he marshalled the majority of Chelsea’s attacks with relative ease.
Geoff Cameron – 6.5/10
Stoke’s ever reliable American showed no signs of a lack of fitness after coming back from a long spell on the sidelines with a good controlled performance on the flank.
Gianelli Imbula – 7.5/10
The club record buy certainly has been showing us why Stoke decided to shell out so much for his services this January and this game was no different where he was Stoke’s best player by far with some fantastic surging runs and crunching tackles throughout the game.
Glen Whelan – 6.5/10
The Stoke captain had another understated yet important performance where he teamed up with Imbula to break up Chelsea’s attacks in the centre of the pitch.
Marco Arnautovic – 6/10
The Austrian had a fantastic game against the Blues in the reverse fixture this season where he was on the scoresheet but sadly didn’t have that kind of impact this time where he was largely ineffectual for large periods of the game.
Ibrahim Afellay – 5.5/10
The former Barcelona man was deployed in his preferred role of playmaker against the Blues and started brightly but faded as the game went on.
Xherdan Shaqiri – 6/10
The skillful Swiss winger has been one of Stoke’s most consistent and valuable players this year with Mark Hughes trying to play more creative, visually appealing football and certainly gave Baba Rahman a hard time but would be disappointed to not have created something more concrete.
Mame Biram Diouf – 6.5/10
The forward certainly worked hard during the game and made up for a slew of wasted chances in the first half with a well-taken finish late on to rescue a point for Stoke.
Substitutes –
Joselu – N/A
Came on for Diouf in the 86th minute.
Bojan – 5/10
Was brought on the create something special for The Potters but couldn’t really affect the game in any concrete way.
Stephen Ireland – N/A
Came on for Arnautovic in the 90th minute.
