EPL 2016-17: Southampton 0-2 Chelsea - Player Ratings
The last Premier League game on Sunday saw Chelsea claimed their fourth consecutive league victory with an assuring 2-0 win over Southampton at St. Mary’s.
Also Read: Hazard and Costa fire warning of Chelsea's title ambitions
Eden Hazard opened the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes of the game as the Blues continued their impressive performances in recent weeks and finished the Saints off as they doubled their lead in the second half thanks to a fine strike from outside the box by Diego Costa.
Chelsea moved into the top four at the expense of Tottenham and have now scored 11 goals without reply since losing at Arsenal. Claude Puel’s side struggled to cope with a well-oiled Chelsea side and will aim to put in a much better performance when they take on Hull City next.
Here are the player ratings for the game.
Southampton
Fraser Forster – 5/10
Forster will be disappointed with himself after allowing Hazard’s shot to sneak through between his legs but could do nothing to prevent Costa’s curling effort. He was also guilty of parrying a couple of shots into dangerous areas but was not punished for it.
Cuco Martina – 4/10
The right-back struggled against the excellent Hazard and simply couldn’t keep up with the Belgian. Martina was also partially blamed for Chelsea’s second goal as he did a poor job in closing down Costa.
Jose Fonte – 6/10
The Portuguese international had a decent outing despite his defence conceding two goals. He martialled the dangerous Costa well and forced the Spaniard to drop deeper to find possession.
Virgil van Dijk – 5/10
The Dutch defender has enjoyed better outings this season and had to constantly be on his toes to prevent Chelsea scoring even more. Van Dijk was not nearly as imposing at the back as he has been in recent weeks.
Ryan Bertrand – 5/10
The former Chelsea man whipped in a few good crosses from the left but it reaped no reward. He returned to the starting XI after an injury lay-off and lasted little over 75 minutes before being replaced.
Oriol Romeu – 5/10
Another former Chelsea employee, Romeu struggled against the likes of Matic and Kante in midfield, although he was responsible for a few good challenges to break up Chelsea’s attacks.
Jordy Clasie – 4/10
Clasie struggled to get into the pace of the game and rarely had much time on the ball. He was replaced in the second half as Southampton looked to move further up the pitch.
Steven Davis – 6/10
The Northern Irishman passed the ball well in the middle of the park but struggled to get past the midfield duo of Matic and Kante. He had a good chance in the second half that was deflected over the crossbar.
Dusan Tadic – 4/10
It was a disappointing day for the Serbian winger who had no joy on the flanks. He struggled against Chelsea’s organised formation and did couldn’t even provide a decent cross into the box. He was replaced early in the second half.
Nathan Redmond – 5/10
Redmond was another player to struggle as Chelsea held strong in defence, although he worked hard to try and create as much as possible.
Charlie Austin – 5/10
The striker was left isolated for most of the game but was arguably Southampton’s most dangerous threat. He even managed to put the ball in the back of the net, only to be ruled out for offside.
Substitutes
Sofiane Boufal – 5/10
Southampton’s record signing came off the bench in the second half but did not have any real impact on the game.
Sam McQueen – N/A
The youngster came on for Bertrand for the final 15 minutes but was barely involved.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – N/A
He was brought on too late to make any meaningful contribution to the game.