By support

20th Nov, 2016 | 6:27pm

Chelsea player ratings v Middlesbrough: Wide man is star of the show

By Emma Sanders

Football Insider rates the Chelsea players after they recorded a 1-0 victory against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Thibaut Courtois 7 –  The Blues’ keeper didn’t have to make too many important saves but was called upon on a few occasions and remained alert during an end-to-end encounter.

Cesar Azpilicueta 7 –  Chelsea kept a clean sheet and Azpilicueta did reasonably well. Didn’t make too many mistakes but was beaten for pace at times.

David Luiz 6 –  The centre-back looked suspect at times and he was beaten by Gaston Ramirez on a few occasions. Chelsea looked vulnerable to Middlesbrough’s quick counter-attacks.

Gary Cahill 7 –  Cahill was relatively solid throughout the game but he was exploited on a few occasions, like Azpilicueta, by the pace of Middlesbrough’s attack.

Victor Moses 8 –  The wing-back was voted man of the match for his performance and it’s easy to see why as he constantly offered Chelsea an outlet on the right flank and looked threatening every time he was on the ball. A goal was all that was missing.

N’Golo Kante 8 –  The former Leicester City midfielder was on top form once again and he kept Chelsea ticking throughout the game.

Nemanja Matic 7 –  Matic was quiet for the most part but he did his job well enough though he was beaten on a few occasions in midfield.

Marcos Alonso 7 –  He was involved in the game a lot and made some bright runs on the left wing but he rushed a few opportunities and could have shown more composure at times.

Pedro 8 – The forward was threatening throughout the game and created a number of chances. He hit the crossbar in the second half and was denied by former teammate Victor Valdes but needed to be more clinical to achieve a higher rating.

Diego Costa 8 – The Premier League top goalscorer was at it again as it was his goal which made the difference between the two sides in a close encounter.

Eden Hazard 7 –  The Belgian striker was relatively quiet in comparison to Pedro but he continued to cause problems for Middlesbrough and created a few good chances for Chelsea.

SUBS

Nathaniel Chalobah (for Pedro 79 mins) 5 The substitute didn’t make much impact when he came on but he did his job for 15 minutes to see out the Chelsea victory.

Branislav Ivanovic (for Moses 89 mins) 6

Oscar (for Hazard 91 mins) 6

In other Chelsea news, Paul Merson gives his verdict on these two Stamford Bridge stars.