Swansea City vs. Chelsea: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Chelsea moved five points clear of second-place Manchester City after shellacking Swansea City 5-0 on Saturday.
Oscar was the first to tally when he pounced on a Gylfi Sigurdsson mistake inside the opening minute, and in the 36th he completed his brace after being played into space by Diego Costa.
Costa, meanwhile, also bagged a pair in the match—his first the result of some lovely interplay involving Oscar, Willian and Cesc Fabregas; his second the result of Federico Fernandez's poor back-pass intended for goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Substitute Andre Schurrle rounded out the scoring with a tap-in with 10 minutes remaining.
"It was the perfect game," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said, per PremierLeague.com. "Everything went in our direction. To score in the first minute immediately gives a different game."
Mourinho added: "To be 4-0 up at half-time is not game over, especially in the Premier League, but it’s a good situation to control it and we did that in the second half."
Overall, there were several standout performances at Liberty Stadium, as well as one or two that were rather less impressive.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the encounter.
Winner: Oscar, Who Took Less Than a Minute to Open the Scoring
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Chelsea were all over Swansea from the opening kick-off on Saturday, and inside the first minute, Oscar scored the game's first goal when he pounced on Gylfi Sigurdsson's misplaced pass.
The Brazil international completed his brace in the 34th minute after linking up with Diego Costa, and in the 20th minute, he had a hand in Costa's first of two when he combined with Willian and Cesc Fabregas to set up the striker.
According to WhoScored, the 23-year-old also touched the ball an impressive 90 times at Liberty Stadium and completed 85 percent of his passes in a well-rounded performance.
Loser: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Who Struggled in a Deeper Midfield Role
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Gylfi Sigurdsson didn't exactly shine alongside Tom Carroll in central midfield on Saturday, and his wayward pass in the opening minute of the match gifted Chelsea an early goal.
"Sigurdsson loses the ball, Oscar punishes him," tweeted ESPN FC's Gabriele Marcotti.
The Iceland international had a chance to equalise straight away, but he pulled his shot just wide of the target, and Swansea went on to lose by five.
Winner: Cesc Fabregas, Who Was Involved in Everything for the Blues
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Smartly, Cesc Fabregas was withdrawn after an influential 74 minutes against Swansea on Saturday.
By then, the Spain international had pulled all the strings in the Blues' attack and contributed an assist on Diego Costa's first of two goals.
"Cesc Fabregas is the first Premier League player to provide 15 assists in two different seasons," revealed OptaJoe via Twitter.
Winner: Marvin Emnes, Who Was a Rare Bright Spot for the Hosts
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Marvin Emnes didn't start Saturday's match, but after replacing the injured Wayne Routledge in the 32nd minute, he provided a rare bit of spark for Swansea going forward.
The 26-year-old completed 88 percent of his passes at Liberty Stadium, per Squawka, and he beat both Oscar and Nemanja Matic in one-on-one situations.
Swans boss Garry Monk won't have taken too many positives from this match, although Emnes may well be a rare exception.
Loser: Federico Fernandez, Who Played Diego Costa Through to Score
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Diego Costa can thank Federico Fernandez for his second goal of the afternoon.
With Fernandez looking to play a back-pass to goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in the 36th minute, Costa anticipated what was going to happen, got on the end of the Swansea defender's errant ball and slipped it into the back of the net from a tight angle.
"Federico Fernandez totally bottles it when in his own box with ball, playing ball straight to Costa, who just slides it past Fabianski," analysed ESPN FC's Miguel Delaney.
Winner: Diego Costa, Who Scored Twice for Chelsea
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Diego Costa just loves facing Swansea.
With Saturday's brace, the Chelsea striker has now scored five goals against the Welsh outfit this season, and as Squawka pointed out via Twitter, his 17 goals for the club are more than any Blues player managed in the whole of the 2013-14 campaign.
The Spain international got his first of the afternoon after receiving the ball from Cesc Fabregas, who had played a part in a neat passing triangle that also involved Oscar and Willian.
Then, in the 36th minute, he pounced on Federico Fernandez's errant back-pass before beating Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with a well-placed shot.
