Chelsea 5-0 Stoke player ratings, stats and reaction: No Hazard, no problem for CFC in superb win

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Chelsea celebrate vs Stoke

Chelsea cruised to a comfortable 5-0 win over Stoke City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon to temporarily move up to second place.

Goals from Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater, Pedro, Willian and Davide Zappacosta sealed the deal for the hosts, as they wasted little time in taking a commanding lead and opening up a bigger gap as the game went on.

All the while, star man Eden Hazard was on the bench with Antonio Conte seemingly having one eye on the meeting with Arsenal next Wednesday night, and so the Belgian international was able to rest and ensure he’s fully fit for that clash with the Gunners.

It was a very impressive performance in particular from the two players asked to provide the creativity and dynamism in the attacking roles, with both Pedro and Willian scoring highly with us as both men also got on the scoresheet to add the icing to the cake.

In contrast, Thibaut Courtois didn’t have a great deal to do so we struggled to mark him too highly, but Conte can be happy with the performance produced from all of his players in a top performance.

Chelsea player ratings: Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 7, Cahill 7, Rudiger 8; Moses 7, Drinkwater 8, Kante 7, Alonso 7; Pedro 8, Willian 9; Morata 7.

Substitutes: Zappacosta 7, Bakayoko 6, Batshuayi 6.

Given they’ve got a strong Spanish contingent, Chelsea are getting great contributions from them as 21 of their 37 league goals so far this season have come from Spaniards.

That’s more than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues, including La Liga, which gives you an idea of how influential they’ve been.

Meanwhile, Drinkwater’s goal interestingly ended a seven-month wait for an English player to score for Chelsea, with John Terry the last to do so last May.

Naturally, given the performance and result, Chelsea fans were delighted with what they saw as their side brought a positive end to 2017.

While Man City may well have opened up a sizeable gap that is unlikely to be made up between now and the end of the season by any of the chasing pack, Chelsea still have to play for second place, and their supporters will be in good spirits for the New Year after such a commanding display, albeit against a struggling Stoke side.

More Stories Antonio Rudiger Danny Drinkwater Davide Zappacosta Pedro Willian