Chelsea v Stoke player ratings

Chelsea failed to make the most of Bertrand Traore’s fabulous goal against Stoke and were denied victory by Mame Diouf’s late header. Here’s how we rated the players in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Thibaut Courtois: 7
Made half a dozen good saves, notably from Xherdan Shaqiri’s low strike in the second half and Bojan’s injury-time effort, but will be upset by his inability to fully deal with the cross that led to Stoke’s leveller. Otherwise he was alert and confident.

Cesar Azpilicueta: 6
Was typically solid but was constantly tested by the trickery of Marco Arnautovic and the equally classy Shaqiri when the wide duo switched flanks.

Gary Cahill: 7
Another steady performance from the England defender. He read the game well and used his experience to snuff out a couple of dangerous situations.

Branislav Ivanovic: 7
The stand-in skipper once again impressed at centre-half with an imposing performance. Like his fellow defenders he was asked plenty of questions by the Stoke forward line. There was one alarming moment when he was caught dallying on the ball, but in general he stood up to the task well and also played some wonderful long-range passes.

Baba Rahman: 5
Had a torrid time against Stoke’s quality in the final third. The recalled left-back made a couple of bad mistakes in possession early on and, although he improved after the break and almost scored with a fine late strike, he was far from convincing.

Nemanja Matic: 7
A busy performance from the Serbian who, after a slow start, got to grips with the midfield and was influential for the most part. His pass led to Traore’s fine goal.

John Mikel Obi: 6
The Nigerian allowed Matic greater freedom but, although steady, he was not at his best and struggled to protect his back four against the constant menace of Stoke’s fluid attacking threat.

Eden Hazard: 7
The Belgian was constantly involved and his confidence has clearly returned. But despite impressing he still lacks the zip of last season and made too many wrong decisions or misplaced passes when he worked himself in to good areas.

Oscar: 6
The Brazilian was unfortunate not to earn a penalty after cleverly drawing a clumsy challenge from Marc Muniesa, but was otherwise pretty quiet despite putting in plenty of effort and doing a lot of ugly work in the midfield.

Willian: 9
Was once again sensational after being given a slight rest in midweek against Norwich. Made countless chances, played some glorious passes, worked tirelessly and was unfortunate to see a couple of goalbound shots blocked. It was a shame it was his loss of possession that led to the equaliser, because his performance did not deserve to be remembered for that one error.

Bertrand Traore: 7
A breathtaking strike after a delightful turn showed just what he is capable of, but before the goal he had struggled to lead the line. But he recovered well and has all the attributes to become a fine player and clearly has the backing of his manager.

Rubén Loftus-Cheek: 6
Brought more energy and dynamism to the midfield in his 30 minutes on the pitch but was guilty of being a bit gung-ho when Chelsea could have done with retaining possssion.

Loic Remy: 5
The French striker lacks sharpness and conviction and was pretty ineffective after coming on with just over 20 minutes left. Needs game time but seems unlikely to get it.