Decent performance that, a little too many chances for them for my liking, but overall, we were by far the better team and definitely deserved the win.

Kepa was excellent. Azpilicueta had a dodgy first half but played much more like himself in the 2nd. Rudiger and Luiz were superb. Alonso, Kante and Giroud were ok. Willian was up and down. Jorginho was Jorginho. Barkley probably had his best game for us so far and Hazard was just brilliant again. Subs played their part too.

Edited October 7, 20187 yr by Scott Harris

1 minute ago, Munkworth said:

All without RLC running the show!

Would've been 5-0 with RLC on the pitch.

Pleased to see Morata score for the 2nd game in a row. That's 3 for the season ... and 3 more than Giroud as well ...

Giroud didn't really have a chance today. Morata wasn't on very long and had two great ones. That's why he should be in the team for me - he gets himself into great positions to score.

Thought Rudiger was superb today.

So so glad the days of watching the ball moved slowly and aimlessly across the midfield to the wing back, only for it to be passed back the same way to the other wing back for 90 minutes are long gone. We have great players, and playing any other way than fast, attacking football with this team is a sin. We'll have setbacks this season no doubt, but thank you Mauricio for bringing fun back into the club after a miserable year

Great to get the 3 points! 

Special mention to kepa who seems to be improving and showing that he will turn out to be one of the best keepers!

 

good to see morata score again.

 

 

Just now, Sexyfootball said:

Pleased to see Morata score for the 2nd game in a row. That's 3 for the season ... and 3 more than Giroud as well ...

Giroud didn't really have a chance today. Morata wasn't on very long and had two great ones. That's why he should be in the team for me - he gets himself into great positions to score.

Thought Rudiger was superb today.

Giroud’s assist > Morata’s goal. 

I’m happy Alvaro scores though, if he can go off and do it for Spain now he might start looking like the player he was in his first few games. 

Kepa - 8,5 Finally a good performance from him without mistakes and pressure. 

Azpilicueta - 2 terrible in  offense, outplayed in defense. the weakest link in our 4.

Rudi and Luiz - solid 8. Reduced mistakes, no chances for their forwards.

Alonso - 7. Not bad, but we used to have better performances by him. 

Jorginho - 8. Great control all over the pitch, once again. He is a world class. 

Kante - 6,5. Not bad, but clearly not his position. It's about time to put him on the bench and play Kovacic and Barkley/RLC. Even his defensive contribution has declined. 

Willian - 7. A bit better than his recent performances but still lacking in ending product.

Hazard - 9. Man of the match. the best player in the world

Giroud - 7. He always manages to deliver some great assist. His one touch game is just precious for the club. 

Man, a lot to like in that game.

Clean sheet. Kepa making a worldie save.

Barkley assist and goal. Giroud nice assist. Morata only missed one one-on-one, and scored the other nicely. Hazard goal and assist.

 

Good day,

Just now, Munkworth said:

Giroud’s assist > Morata’s goal. 

I’m happy Alvaro scores though, if he can go off and do it for Spain now he might start looking like the player he was in his first few games. 

Not for me. Giroud's "assist" was a shot (off target) that just happened to fall nicely for Barkley's knee ... no intent from Giroud to play him in.

We seem to have a World Class Kepa in the making [emoji41]

8 minutes ago, Giordano_Bruno said:

Kepa - 8,5 Finally a good performance from him without mistakes and pressure. 

Azpilicueta - 2 terrible in  offense, outplayed in defense. the weakest link in our 4.

Rudi and Luiz - solid 8. Reduced mistakes, no chances for their forwards.

Alonso - 7. Not bad, but we used to have better performances by him. 

Jorginho - 8. Great control all over the pitch, once again. He is a world class. 

Kante - 6,5. Not bad, but clearly not his position. It's about time to put him on the bench and play Kovacic and Barkley/RLC. Even his defensive contribution has declined. 

Willian - 7. A bit better than his recent performances but still lacking in ending product.

Hazard - 9. Man of the match. the best player in the world

Giroud - 7. He always manages to deliver some great assist. His one touch game is just precious for the club. 

That rating for Azpilicueta is ridiculous. He was shaky in the first half, but he was fine in the 2nd, didn't put a foot wrong. A 6 out of 10 is more realistic. 2 is for the Titus Bramble's of the game. 

You also don't see the value of Kante. Just because he doesn't need to be saving our ass's all game, it doesn't mean he isn't effective.

Edited October 7, 20187 yr by Scott Harris

Another great game to watch, delighted with the result again too. Agree that we gifted them a chance too many, but we created enough to have scored more ourselves, it was a deserved win.

Thought Barkley took his opportunity well, pressed their midfield all day and got the reward with the assist, and a goal to cap a great performance.

I'll agree Azpi had a poor first half at least, and I'm fairly certain Bertrand has had the beating of him before. Can't think of many matches he's ever let us down though, and we still kept a clean sheet, so not dwelling on a few rare one-on-ones lost. Luiz and Rudiger in particular were once again solid.

Its a shame another international break's sneaked up, but what an unexpectedly superb start to the season we've had. Really enjoying our football so far under Sarri.

A draw at Anfield would be ideal

A goalless draw to boot. It could happen. Oh well just happy to hear our fans chant ' we're top of league'

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

That rating for Azpilicueta is ridiculous. He was shaky in the first half, but he was fine in the 2nd, didn't put a foot wrong. A 6 out of 10 is more realistic. 2 is for the Titus Bramble's of the game. 

You also don't see the value of Kante. Just because he doesn't need to be saving our ass's all game, it doesn't mean he isn't effective.

Got to agree ... no starting player rates as low as 2/10 in an easy 3-0 win :-)

Ultimately a very solid win.

1) Hazard was quality as ever, but he didn't so much dominate the entire game as stamp his mark at key moments - firstly with the goal and then with the assist to Morata. 

2) It was great to see Barkley finally make a definitive impact on a game as opposed to merely looking promising without really stamping his authority on proceedings. His through ball to Hazard after dispossessing the Southampton player was a nice display of vision which I honestly don't remember him displaying either at this club or even very much at Everton, His forward run for his goal was something I do recall seeing at Everton at times and it was great to see him pull off something like that here. 

3) For somebody who is so big and bulky, Giroud displays some surprising agility and technical prowess at times. Following on from his ridiculous scorpion kick goal at Arsenal, he rolled out an effective scissor kick here to make the most of a Willian corner. It would be nice to see him score, but he clearly has value beyond any goals he might score, in terms of holding the ball up and playing his teammates in. 

4) Southampton got a few chances on the counter-attack, but luckily were either denied by Kepa or poor finishing. In general though they were often second best, either showing only flashes of ability (Redmond/Lemina) or making defensive errors (Hoedt, who by now probably shouldn't be starting).

5) It was good to see Morata reminding us of his super-sub days at Real Madrid/Juventus. I think that is probably the best way to use him, especially if we keep encountering deep-lying defences. We simply get Giroud to wear down two centre-backs for 60-65 minutes like a battering ram and then bring Morata on against tired legs so he can utilise his pace more effectively.  

6) The refereeing was sub-standard - Southampton were probably fortunate to end the match with 11 men and we should have had at least one penalty IMO. Didn't matter in the end though. 

7) Since the West Ham game, Kepa has definitely proven his worth as a shot-stopper. He may not be Courtois in that department, but on this evidence he isn't far off. Like Courtois he can also retain concentration for the entire game and make a spectacular save when not much appears to be happening. 

 

13 minutes ago, BenCFC19 said:

So so glad the days of watching the ball moved slowly and aimlessly across the midfield to the wing back, only for it to be passed back the same way to the other wing back for 90 minutes are long gone. We have great players, and playing any other way than fast, attacking football with this team is a sin. We'll have setbacks this season no doubt, but thank you Mauricio for bringing fun back into the club after a miserable year

100% agree it's the best we've looked football wise since Ancelloti. It's a genuine pleasure to watch us again.

Still be happy to just finish top 4 as I see this season as one to build and improve, but we are far exceeding my expectations so far. 

A goalless draw to boot. It could happen. Oh well just happy to hear our fans chant ' we're top of league'

If that happens I am buying the euro millions immediately

If that happens I am buying the euro millions immediately

Mate they could cancel each other out. If that ends in a draw, City would go Top of the Table on goal difference

Very solid performance. Glad My "wrong" prediction came true haha !! However, our dependence on Hazard is too damn high ! Safe for the set piece goal from barkley, All of our goals had hazard involved (goal and assist). Despite Willian and Morata being involved in two out of the three goals, we need better options or better decision making from willian. Maybe Pedro should have had a go in that game. Anyway, a convincing win nonetheless !!! UTC !!!

ps: We've just avoided a crisis for another week

enjoy!!!

 

Good to see Kepa has learned from that Sturridge goal. A well deserved win. Anytime Morata is on the scoresheet has to be good.

Very good performance and pleasing on the eye.Fantastic away support as usual,onwards and upwards.

2 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Not for me. Giroud's "assist" was a shot (off target) that just happened to fall nicely for Barkley's knee ... no intent from Giroud to play him in.

I don't actually agree with this. I am sure we tried something similar in a recent previous game and it didn't quite come off. I think this is a training ground routine. It looks like to me that Giroud shapes for a scissor kick making the defenders brace for it. He then fizzes it in across the goal into an area where any touch will do. If the defenders are bracing for a shot then our attackers, and i think we had two on the line, are in a prime positon to anticipate the ball, which is what Barkley did.

Hopefully someone better than me can remember the game recently where we tried this and it didn't work. Was it west ham maybe or Scouse in the carabao.

An important victory. We play that attacking style and enjoying our football, we needed that feeling. Can't wait for us to continue that form and play against big guns.

Hazard is just unstoppable at the moment, a good thing to see Morata scoring, maybe Sarri's trust would be worth it. 

Kepa with few fantastic saves, his confidence is only raising.

COME ON CHELS!!!!

 

Decent performance today, despite a couple of chances for them I never really felt like we were in any danger once we got the first goal. The third goal capped off a fine move, good to see Morata get on the scoresheet. Kepa again produced a couple of fine saves.Twenty  pts and in second place after Sarri's first eight games, can't really ask for more.