Vital Reading looks at the players’ individual performances from the victory against Sheffield Wednesday.
Vital Reading looks at the players’ individual performances from the victory against Sheffield Wednesday. First-half goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and Nathaniel Chalobah secured a deserved 2-0 victory for Steve Clarke’s men.
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Adam Federici – 7 – A well-deserved clean sheet for the birthday boy, who made a superb save just before half time, which could have been crucial. He made a smart save in the second half and did well not to commit for Maghoma’s one-on-one, forcing him to put it wide.
Stephen Kelly – 7 – I’m far from Kelly’s biggest fan, this was a classy and experienced performance from the defender. Not once was he troubled by Helan’s or Maghoma’s pace, using his experience to keep them out the game.
Alex Pearce – 7 – Solid game from Pearce, who kept Keane and Nuhiu quiet, albeit they didn’t offer any pace to get in behind him.
Michael Hector – 8 – The young defender seems to be maturing under Clarke massively, in what was another superb showing. Not only did he make the right decisions, he seemed more composed with the ball at this feet.
Jordan Obita – 5 – Shaky game from the young-left, who showed a few too many moments of naivety. On three occasions he got caught the wrong side and was caught out, but luckily wasn’t punished.
Garath McCleary – 6 – It just wasn’t McCleary’s day, in performance and the linesman denying him a perfectly-fine goal. He seemed jaded and frustrated, hopefully he won’t get burnt out.
Danny Williams – 8 – Very close contender for MOTM, where he gave a masterclass in the box-to-box midfielder role. He was constantly winning challenges and kept the ball moving with sharp, consistent passing.
Nathaniel Chalobah – 7 – Good showing from the Chelsea youngster, whose composure on the ball keeps us ticking in midfield. He can be too casual on occasions, but will soon learn.
Hal Robson-Kanu – 6 – The penalty miss will probably tarnish what was a half-decent game from HRK. He drifted inside a lot, but was effective, creating a few openings, namely the Cox chance early on.
Simon Cox – 6 – The early chance missed set the tone for his afternoon, which was full of hard work, but not enough effectiveness.
Pavel Pogrebnyak – 8 – Man of the Match – The complete performance from Pog, who was superb all afternoon. His work rate was non stop, his hold up (at his feet!) was faultless and his performance was summed up with a great header.
Pog a definite shout for the Man of the Match award but I think it could easily have gone to either Williams who drove the team forward or Frederici who made a key save in the first half which had he not could of changed the game.
The Pog put himself about as a man his size should, involved the midfield more with his hold-up play, took his goal well and made great runs into the box for e.g. the penalty or to make space for others.
For the first time this season Hector looked the real deal, his decision making has improved and if he continues I feel he is going to be a real asset to us. I can see why Chalobah is on Chelsea’s books, bags of technical ability, deceptively quick, physical and positioning to make space for himself to receive a pass and to make an interception which protects the back four well.
Penalty aside I thought HRK played well, cut inside and created several chances including the one for cox and McCleary?s disallowed goal, I hope he gets another chance from the sport to make amends. I’m not sure McCleary had an off day, I just think he failed to do the simple things right on this occasion. After all he was imo still our biggest threat going forward, he superbly assisted the second goal, put pog through for the penalty and scored a perfectly good goal which was wrongly disallowed as well as creating other chances. If that?s an off day I’ll take that, maybe it?s just the high standard we have come to expect of him but we are a different animal with him in the team I believe.
Special mention to Kelly who came in for the injured Gunter, solid game and produced a fine cross for the first goal.