Player Ratings – West Bromwich Albion 3 Chelsea 0

Player Ratings – West Bromwich Albion 3 Chelsea 0

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West Brom became the first team to beat the new champions of England after a surprise 3-0 win over Chelsea early Tuesday morning.

Since winning the title, the late season form of Jose Mourinho’s men is continually uninspiring, losing their first domestic match since the turn of the New Year.

It did not take long for things to go askew for Chelsea, going behind inside the first 10 minutes after Saido Berahino curled a picturesque strike from outside of the box past the diving outreach of Thibaut Courtois.

Yet it would be a bizarre occurrence on the half-hour mark that this match will likely be remembered for. An inside the box quarrel between Gareth McAuley and Diego Costa spilled over with teammates from both sides getting involved, but shortly after the blue hitman was shown a yellow card, a Cesc Fabregas-hit ball flew across the area and struck Chris Brunt in the head. It provoked a furious reaction from West Brom, and the playmaking wizard could offer little protest when he was shown a red card.

Any chance of a comeback from the Champions was scrubbed out moments after the break, when Berahino was brought down inside the box by John Terry after again getting behind the blue defence. The 21-year-old put the penalty into the back of the net for his second, before Chris Brunt was left alone following a short corner to hammer a third inside the near post.

Outside90 Senior Editor Hugh Schuitemaker takes a look at the best individual performances on both sides of the pitch.

West Brom

Boaz Myhill – 7.5: The Baggies’ goalkeeper made three saves on the way to a memorable clean sheet, including a strong stop to a Filipe Luis set-piece and a close range effort from Nemanja Matic in the 73rd minute.

Craig Dawson – 7: Did not give up an inch on the right side of defence, with three interceptions, six clearances and a distribution rate of 88% accuracy.

Gareth McAuley – 6.5: His physical battle with Costa quickly got heated, ultimately leading to the sending-off of Fabregas. Held his ground well against the fiery Spanish striker.

Jonas Olsson – 6.5: Pressured the Chelsea attack well and kept their momentum around the box to a minimum with five clearances.

Joleon Lescott – 7: Was a presence at both ends of the field and not afraid to get physical. Passed the ball well moving up the left-wing and assisted Berahino’s opener.

Darren Fletcher – 6.5: Dominated in the midfield battle, passing at 90% accuracy and making four clearances.

Claudio Yacob – 7.5: Screened the defence with composure that could have rivalled the opposing Matic, distributed with near-perfection while also winning seven tackles.

James Morrison – 6.5: Good attacking intentions but lacking the technical edge, sending a 60th minute shot well over the bar. Did manage three successful take-ons.

Callum McManaman – 7: Tested Courtois early from close-range and was integral in the build-up to the penalty just before half-time, but his day was cut somewhat short as he was substituted before the hour mark.

Chris Brunt – 8: Put the game to bed as he caught the Chelsea defence napping with a powerful shot that crept in at the near-post from a short corner to make it 3-0. Also provided six crosses and won 100% of tackles and aerial duels.

Saido Berahino – 9: Opened the scoring in the 9th minute from outside the box and continued to devastate, putting the game largely beyond reached with a cooly converted penalty before being substituted late on. 

Substitutes

Craig Gardner – 6.5: Replaced McManaman in the 54th minute and soon after provided the short cross for Brunt’s goal.

Brown Ideye – 5.5: Connected well with teammates but did not get any of the ball in goal scoring areas.

Chris Baird – N/A: Came on for Morrison with only a few minutes left to play.

Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois – 6: A rare day where the Belgian custodian is beaten on multiple occasions, and while there may not have been much he could do about Berahino’s brace, although getting a slight touch on the penalty kick. The third goal going in at the near-post would have had Courtois undoubtedly furious.

Branislav Ivanovic – 6: The proclivity to move forward probably hurt the Serbian on this occasion, caught out of place on the way to the opening goal. Did pass well, however, and won all attempted tackles.

Gary Cahill – 5: Terrorised by Berahino and a dull outing, perhaps illustrative of a tired Chelsea backline desperate to reach the end of the season.

John Terry – 5: Noticeably lacked his usual composure and gave away the penalty with a rash sliding tackle inside the box. Could not rally the Chelsea force for any meaningful charge, leading to the concession of the lax third goal.  

Filipe Luis – 6: A forgettable 90 minutes defensively, yet the Brazilian was able to find some decent space moving up the wing, took a decent shot on goal from a 38th minute free kick to test Myhill.

Reuben Loftus-Cheek – 6.5: The 19-year-old’s second Premier League starting appearance saw him record some impressive statistics, passing at 93% accuracy, winning two take-ons and all aerial duels.

Nemanja Matic – 7: Perhaps Chelsea’s finest among a match full of woes, hardly putting a touch out of place while taking three shots and providing three crosses.

Loic Remy – 7: Some much-needed fresh legs for the attack, hit the post in the 56th minute with the visitor’s best chance of the day.

Cesc Fabregas – 4: A moment of insanity saw the Spaniard barrel the ball into the head of Brunt while the game was paused and whether intentional or not, there was likely to be only one outcome. Fabregas will miss the next three Chelsea Premier League games, stretching into the beginning of next season.

Eden Hazard – 6.5: Another stalwart of the season who looks desperate for a break, here lacking the razor-sharp edge when moving into the 18-yard-box.

Diego Costa – 6: While seemingly recovered from his hamstring issues, Was not able to get a shot on target and arguably outdone in the physical battle with McAuley.

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Substitutes

Juan Cuadrado – 6: Still needs to carve out his own niche in the side, but passed at high accuracy and covered large amounts of the pitch after replacing Costa. 

Nathan Ake – 5.5: The game was lost when he came on in the 73rd despite looking energetic on the ball.

Izzy Brown – N/A: The youngster could not get enough of the ball in an attacking position to make any impact.

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