Chelsea vs Liverpool clashes have never been short on drama and while the latest edition was relatively quiet in comparison, it still proved to be an intriguing Premier League clash.
Sunday’s tie at Stamford Bridge saw the Blues emerging triumphant with Olivier Giroud’s first-half header the only goal over the course of the 90 minutes.
Here are The Statesman’s player rating from a memorable tie in the English capital:
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois
Made a number of key stops and even when he didn’t look comfortable, managed to do enough to prevent a free-scoring Liverpool side from finding the back of the net.
Rating: 8/10
Cesar Azpilicueta
The Spaniard did almost score an own-goal, but apart from that rarely put a foot wrong.
Rating: 7/10
Gary Cahill
Man-marked Salah out of the game.
The Egyptian wasn’t at his sharpest, but take nothing away from Chelsea’s captain.
Rating: 8/10
Antonio Rudiger
Perhaps surprisingly, the German was one of finest Blues defenders on the night.
Played his part in shackling Salah and Co.
Rating: 8/10
Marcos Alonso
Sent in a few inviting crosses and very nearly scored a blinder, but on the whole Alonso didn’t have his greatest game in a Blues jersey.
Rating: 6/10
Tiemoue Bakayoko
Middling performance from the Frenchman, but not as bad as he’s been made out to be certainly.
Rating: 7/10
N’Golo Kante
This guy’s everywhere, literally everywhere.
Stopped Mane in his tracks on a couple of occasions and was just excellent in shielding his defence from minute 1-90.
Rating: 8/10
Cesc Fabregas
The Spaniard wasn’t at his influential best, despite playing in a system that seemed tailor made for him to wreak havoc in.
Rating: 6/10
Victor Moses
Rewarded for his efforts with an assist, albeit a deflected one.
Didn’t do too badly defensively either.
Rating: 7/10
Eden Hazard
Not quite his mercurial best, but Hazard’s mazy runs against the Reds were quite effective and that will give the Blues faithful hope that the Belgian can end the season on a high.
Rating: 8/10
Olivier Giroud
Didn’t do much, but how can his manager complain when he scored the winner?
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Has slowly, but surely, silenced his critics and looks certain to start the FA Cup final.
Rating: 7/10
Substitutes
Willian
Replaced Hazard with less than five minutes left.
Rating: N/A
Davide Zappacosta
Came on in the final minute of regulation time for Moses.
Rating: N/A
Pedro
The final change, solely for running the clock down.
Rating: N/A
Liverpool
Loris Karius
Couldn’t have done much for the winner but the German did have a few shaky moments.
Distribution seems to be improving, though.
Rating: 6/10
Andy Robertson
Moses’ cross came from his flank and on the whole, the Scot didn’t have a good outing.
Struggled to find his teammates with his trademark crosses.
Rating: 5/10
Virgil van Dijk
Did fairly well for the most part but will be disappointed he couldn’t get to Moses’ cross, even if it did get a deflection.
Rating: 6/10
Dejan Lovren
Better than his horror show against Roma, although that isn’t saying much.
Got beaten too easily for Giroud’s strike.
Rating: 5/10
Nathaniel Clyne
On the basis of this showing , the powerful fullback still has a way to go.
Managed his flank fairly well in his hour-long outing.
Rating: 6/10
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Did pretty well deputising in midfield, but looked far more comfortable when switched to right-back later.
Rating: 6/10
Georginio Wijnaldum
The Dutchman had a decent outing, but like his teammates, struggled to unlock Chelsea’s defence.
Rating: 6/10
James Milner
Lucky not to have picked up a yellow for scything challenge on Hazard early on.
Looked to have picked up something but gamely carried on, but lacked any sort of incisiveness with his passing.
Rating: 6/10
Sadio Mane
His pace caused the hosts all sorts of problems, and was the brightest of Liverpool’s front-three, but all for nought in the end.
Rating: 6/10
Roberto Firmino
Usual hardworking self, but for a change had little to show for it.
Rating: 6/10
Mohamed Salah
Is the Egyptian carrying an injury or is he simply tired after carrying the team through the season?
Probably his worst outing since arriving in the summer.
Rating: 4/10
Substitues
Jordan Henderson
The skipper came on in the second-half but was unable to affect the game with his half-hour cameo.
Rating: 6/10
Dominic Solanke
Another ex-Chelsea player who failed to impress.
Had a few good chances, but they all went begging.
Rating: 5/10
Alberto Moreno
Came on in the final minute and hardly got a touch of the ball.
Rating: N/A