Asmir Begovic – GK
A mixed bag for the Bosnian deputy keeper as he pulled off some impressive saves to keep the score down as Porto peppered him like a prime piece of beef. He was also partly to blame for their winner though as he left his near post helplessly exposed at the corner for Maicon’s header to go in. Rating – 7/10
Branislav Ivanovic – RB
Every match I seem to say how bad does this guy have to play to get dropped and every match he plays he looks worse. Jose says in a conference there are no untouchable players yet somehow Ivanovic still turns up on the team sheet. Just about every Chelsea fans seems to want to see Cesar Azpilicueta on the right and Baba Rahman on the left but Jose thinks otherwise. Exposed time and time again and contributed to the opener by allowing Yacine Brahimi to go past with ease and fire the shot which Begovic parried to Andre to score. When he wasn’t leaving space for Brahimi he was lunging in with reckless tackles. Rating – 4/10
Kurt Zouma – CB
He put in a good shift but it is clear at times that he is still developing. For me though that’s why I want to see him in the side every game. He is the future and needs game time to become a great centre back. Rating – 6/10
GARY CAHILL – CB
It’s hard to blame either Cahill or Zouma when they were left so exposed by other players. Like Kurt, he had a fairly good game and between the pair they kept Vincent Aboubakar quiet in the box so he was at his most dangerous when he dropped deeper. Rating – 6/10
Cesar Azpilicueta – LB
Should have started at right back but only had an average game at left back. Rating – 6/10
John Obi Mikel – CM
Brought in to replace Nemanja Matic and give the magic Serbian a kick up the backside perhaps. If this was his bid for a regular first team starting place then Mikel did nothing to endear himself to the role. My heart sinks when I see him on the team sheet as he brings nothing to the game and it was the same today. He just doesn’t have the positional sense for a back line protector and left Cahill and Zouma exposed all too often. He doesn’t have the engine of Ramires or the passing skills of Fabregas so apart from to send a statement to Matic I cannot see why he played. Replaced by Eden Hazard after 62 painful minutes. Rating – 5/10
Cesc Fabregas – CM
Once again almost non-existent and struggled to link play with Diego Costa to rekindle the great partnership of last season. He said before the game that the players know it’s down to them to put this situation we’re in right but he did nothing in this match to show me that he’d heard his own words. Rating – 5/10
Ramires – CM
He was a hero on Saturday as his long range shot got us back in the match at Newcastle but again the main part of his game was in what I term as the ‘water carrier’ role. He’s great at getting the ball off the back line and bringing it upfield with pace but for the last couple of seasons he’s struggled to make the right decision when he got to the end of the line. That Ramires was back today as he lost possession too often (but not as often as Fabregas) and failed to impress. Nemanja Matic replaced him after 73 minutes. Rating – 6/10
Pedro – RW
When he got the ball he was full of pace and danger but failed to find the right ball to create any end product. Those spritely runs were too few and far between as Porto had us pinned back most of the time anyway. Replaced by Kenedy after 73 minutes. Rating – 6/10
Willian – LW
Playing in an unfamiliar role on the left so that Eden Hazard could be dropped to the bench. I said all summer that we needed to bring in cover for Hazard on the left unless we retained Victor Moses (which we didn’t) and now we’re stuck with a player who prefers central attacking midfield or right wing. That said he had a pretty good game and stood out in a team performance which if it was a colour would be either beige or magnolia. Scored a great free kick on the stroke of half-time. Rating – 7/10
Diego Costa – ST
After giving Costa a 3/10 the last time I did the ratings, I’m as surprised as anyone to give him my Man of the Match award tonight. It’s no secret I’m not a fan of his but tonight there were no stupid antics to object to. Instead, he put in a good powerful centre-forward performance, linked play better than any of the attacking midfielders and hit the bar. He also should have had a penalty in the dying minutes as he forced a handball which was missed by the referee and his assistants. More of these performances (with goals of course) and I could change my opinion. No arguments, no fights and no lashing out. Rating – 8/10
Substitutes
Eden Hazard (on for Mikel 62 minutes)
A few bright runs with pace and no end product. Lost the ball when taking on a defender but at least went at the defence to cause problems as much as he could. Certainly one of the season’s under-performers but not enough evidence to show any change in that tonight. Rating – 6/10
Nemanja Matic (on for Ramires 73 minutes)
Came on when we were chasing a goal to get back in the game and equalise but that’s not his role. We didn’t have any other attacking options on the bench though. Rating – 6/10
Kenedy (on for Pedro 73 minutes)
Didn’t see much of him until he had the chance to grab a winner with the last kick of the match which blazed wide.
Rating – 6/10
