A blistering first-half display helped Chelsea get Jose Mourinho’s second spell as manager off to a winning start. Here’s how we rated the players in their 2-0 victory against Hull at Stamford Bridge.
Petr Cech: 6
Didn’t put a foot wrong, but barely had the chance to. Must have been bored rigid in the first half.
Branislav Ivanovic: 7
Steady. Decent in possession and willing in attack. Supported well and should probably have won a penalty in the second half when he was bundled over in the box.
John Terry: 8
An excellent return. Commanding from the outset, he also looked sharp, trim and fit. Showed great organisational skills, excellent decision-making, won all his headers and used the ball well.
Gary Cahill: 7
Appeared happy to play second fiddle to Terry, which just shows his maturity and adaptability. Unflappable.
Ashley Cole: 7
Quiet. Positional sense as impressive as ever and it has to be as he could be exposed by out and out pace if left one on one.
Ramires: 7
Won some crunching tackles, broke up play superbly and provided the platform for the other four midfielders to play.
Frank Lampard: 8
Glorious free-kick and unlucky not to score on two other occasions. Not his greatest penalty, but that was the only downside to a fine disciplined display. Given he has missed much of the pre-season, his fitness is phenomenal.
Oscar: 9
Chelsea’s best player. Outstanding with and without the ball in the first half. Combined athleticism with quality, scored a fine goal and found space with ease before fading in the second half.
Eden Hazard: 8
Like Oscar was hugely influential before the interval but looked jaded afterwards. Was strong in possession and sensible with his distribution. Squandered a couple of decent goalscoring opportunities.
Kevin De Bruyne: 8
A wonderful debut. Laid on Oscar’s opener, showed some glorious touches, neat tricks, the ability to beat a man and also pinged a couple of delightful long-range passes. Impressive.
Fernando Torres: 7
Won the free-kick for the opener and although he barely had a sniff of goal, he played a vital role in holding up the play, occupying defenders and creating space for the midfield trio.
Andre Schurrle: 6
Encouraging. Very unfortunate not to score with one chipped effort and brought much-needed freshness to the side after coming on.
Romelu Lukaku: 7
Made a good impression in a very short space of time. A real handful and his pace and power offers all options.
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This post was last modified on 19/08/2013
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Can someone tell me what Torres did to get a 7? Useless as always his body language is different to all other Chelsea players hardly on his toes the whole game and did nothing to help link the play, I'm bored of watching him in a Chelsea shirt!