Written by: Jonathan Lee
Fabianski – 6 not overly worked despite, at times, intense second half pressure; possibly at fault for the free kick with his positioning although it was well struck, handling first half was solid with a number of shots covered
Fredericks – 6.5 arguably his best performance since the restart, made a number of important clearances second half although allowed Alonso too much freedom first half
Diop – 6.5 inexperience showed when dangling his leg out for the penalty, otherwise contributed well especially with crosses into the box second half
Ogbonna – 8 marshalled the defence ever so well considering this was his first game back, his form from pre lockdown looks to have not been affected, won the initial header in the build-up to the counter attack for the winner, never looked hurried the sign of a good defender
Cresswell – 6 not one of his better games, got torn apart by Willian second half as Chelsea focused the majority of their attacks down our left wing, distribution was also poor
Soucek – 8 did ever so well to grab his goal and very unlucky on the VAR overturn, took a while to get going but the last hour of the game he was a colossus, important header won in the build up to the winning goal
Rice – 8.5 skipper for the night, the boy doesn’t appear to do bad games just now, other clubs will be watching closely, covered every blade of grass and the only real blotch was his rash tackle that led to the free kick where he could have stayed on his feet as Ogbonna was waiting to make the challenge
Bowen – 6 possibly his poorest performance in a WH shirt to date, regularly gave possession away first half, but did assist the Soucek goal with his corner, and a lovely lay off to set up Antonio for the second
Fornals – 7 covered a lot of ground first half but without actually seeing much of the ball, but his involvement with the second and third goals cannot be underestimated, perfectly weighted first time layoffs for Bowen and Antonio respectively
Lanzini – 6 better than recent outings but often ended up running down cul-de-sacs, gave away possession lazily a couple of times, and wasted a good chance when presented with a sight of goal second half
Antonio – 9 involved in everything, non-stop effort up front, held the ball up well, won free kicks to break up play, scored the second, perfectly set up the third, super
Subs:
Wilshere (68 mins) – 6 good to see him back out on the pitch, didn’t do anything silly, didn’t do anything particularly amazing and hopefully didn’t pick up any knocks
Yarmolenko (78 mins) – 7 wonderful finish to win the game and also supported Fredericks well
Balbuena (3 mins) no mark as not sure he actually touched the ball !