Chelsea looked to be well on their way to a fourth straight league victory until Mame Diouf bagged a late goal, as the Blues drew 1-1 to Stoke at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea remained undefeated in the Premier League this season under Guus Hiddink.
It was a difficult two points dropped, as it would’ve seen the Blues jump up to 8th in the Premier League table for the time being. Instead, Chelsea sit in 10th place with 40 points (10 wins, 10 draws, nine losses) with Everton and Watford within striking distance (and a match in hand).
Bertrand Traore, who started in place of Diego Costa, opened the scoring on a wonder-strike in the 39th minute after the Burkina Faso native collected a pass from Nemanja Matic, made space in a sea of Stoke defenders, and fired a brilliant left-footed strike to the far post.
Diouf spoiled the party in the 85th minute after a turnover in the midfield from Willian was played out wide to Xherdan Shaqiri, who whipped in a cross that was punched from Thibaut Courtois, but only as far as Diouf at the penalty spot, who comfortably headed the ball to the back of the net.
Here are our player ratings from today’s match.
GK - Thibaut Courtois - 6
Aside from the mistake he made on Stoke’s goal, I thought Courtois played very well today.
Amid rumours of a move away from Stamford Bridge during the summer transfer window, the Belgian made three brilliant second-half saves while trying to defend his one-goal lead.
RB - Cesar Azpilicueta - 6
Azpi put in another brilliant performance at right back, further solidifying his case as one of the top fullbacks in the Premier League. The Spaniard provided the perfect balance of defence and support in attack.
CB - Branislav Ivanovic - 6
Ivanovic was able to keep Diouf in his pocket for most of the match but unable to keep Diouf’s head off the ball when the Senegalese equalised in the 85th minute.
CB - Gary Cahill - 7
Cahill was as calm and collective as he looks in this image. His most notable challenge was after Marko Arnautovic put a dummy move on Azpilicueta and would’ve been through on goal, but the Englishman was quick to gobble it up and clear the danger.
LB - Baba Rahman - 5
Another match, another goal coming from Rahman’s left side — albeit after a bad giveaway from Willian.
I wanted to give Rahman a 6-rating, but he just can’t seem to figure things out on the defensive side of things for a full 90 minutes. Rahman did, of course, provide plenty of offensive support and was an additional weapon to Hazard on the left side.
CDM - Nemanja Matic - 6
It wasn’t a terrible performance from Matic – Giannelli Imbula kept the Serbian in check for much of the match. But Matic is showing improvements each match, and took a step today in getting back to the title-winning form that he was in last campaign. Matic was subbed off for Cesc Fabregas in the 82nd minute.
CDM - John Obi Mikel - 7
Mikel continues to prove his case to Guus Hiddink, and prove to the fans why the manager trusts him so much. The Nigerian sat in front of the back line and took much pressure off of the defence while allowing Matic more time on the ball.
RW - Willian - 6
Willian’s inexcuseable giveaway prevents his rating from being much higher.
I’ve harped on the giveaway enough, so the positives: Willian continues to show why he’s Chelsea best player this season, his set pieces were mostly effective and he nearly doubled the Blues’ lead around the hour-mark had it not be for a solid save from Jack Butland.
CAM - Oscar - 6
The Brazilian’s inconsistency shows again. In addition to drawing what should’ve been a second-half penalty, he drew a foul from Erik Pieters in the 80th minute that would’ve seen Pieters given a yellow card had he not received one earlier in the match.
LW - Eden Hazard - 6
Before being subbed off for Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the 63rd minute, Hazard was OK. Not much else to say. On to PSG.
ST - Bertrand Traore - 8
Traore, although subbed off for Loic Remy in the 68th minute, was brilliant.
In addition to his goal, Traore’s movement was spot-on. He struggled early on against the Stoke defence, but eventually figured things out and began playing to his strengths.
Subs:
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 7
Loftus-Cheek continues to show why he deserves minutes, being a viable option in the midfield for the 27 minutes he was on the pitch. He nearly doubled Chelsea’s lead in the 81st minute when he snuck in behind and forced a near-post save from Jack Butland.
Loic Remy – 4
Remy just isn’t working here. Alexandre Pato again sees the bench for a full 90, while Remy replaced the goal-scorer (Traore) in the 68th minute. Remy’s appearance effectively guaranteed Chelsea weren’t getting another goal. His movement was poor, he’s the furthest thing from quick and his ball skills are sub-par. It was a head-scratching substitution, especially since you’d expect Traore didn’t need to be rested for Wednesday tie against PSG — not to mention the fact that the Blues have three days and zero travel to prepare for the Champions League match.
Cesc Fabregas – N/A
Fabregas, who was being rested for Wednesday’s Champions League match against PSG, played just eight minutes after replacing Nemanja Matic.