Chelsea vs. Swansea City: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Chelsea's defence of the Premier League started with a home draw against Swansea City, as the two sides fought out an entertaining 2-2 result.
Oscar scored from a free-kick that everybody missed before Andre Ayew scored from close range to equalise. Immediately after, Willian saw a cross deflect off Federico Fernandez, over Lukasz Fabianski and into the far corner of the net. A red card for Thibaut Courtois saw Chelsea finish with 10 men, and Bafetimbi Gomis netted the penalty to complete the scoring.
Here are all our winners and losers from the 90 minutes.
Winner: Willian
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Chelsea's best player on the day, Willian was excellent for the home side both on and off the ball.
His running and use of space was the most regular outlet of attack for Chelsea, as he dropped deep to find space behind the Swansea midfield or else stuck wide to take possession and try to beat his man one-on-one. Willian made a number of clever passes into the box, linked well with Diego Costa and at times looked a direct threat on goal himself.
He outshone Eden Hazard by a fair amount, and it was only when Willian was replaced late in the game that Hazard stepped up and tried to take the game to Swansea.
Loser: Thibaut Courtois
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With Petr Cech's exit from the club, Thibaut Courtois' status as Chelsea No. 1 was assured this summer—but his season couldn't have started in a worse way.
First, he took an injury in the warm-up before the match even started and needed some intensive treatment on the pitch and in the changing room before taking his place in the starting XI.
Then, less than an hour into the game, he charged from goal, took down Bafe Gomis and was shown a straight red card—rightly so. His judgement cost Chelsea two points as Swansea scored the spot-kick and dominated most of the second half.
Winner: Jefferson Montero
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Swansea's most dangerous performer throughout, Jefferson Montero can be nigh on untouchable when he's on his game—and that was the case at Stamford Bridge.
Blinding acceleration, clever use of space behind and between the defenders and some superb close control meant he got away from his markers time and time again, frequently setting up crossing or passing chances from the left edge of the box.
He was unlucky not to score with at least one of his own shots, too. Now the trick is to find consistency with this type of performance, not make it a once-every-five-games thing, as it has been too often.
Loser: Branislav Ivanovic
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He's the best right-back in the league, but Branislav Ivanovic had a horrid opening game of the season—partly due to the scintillating display of Jefferson Montero, of course.
The Serbian couldn't get close to his man and had no idea on more than one occasion that Montero had escaped into space behind him. His passing was poor, and when moving forward in possession he made more than a couple of debatable decisions with regard to his final pass.
When Wayne Routledge came on for Montero, the process simply continued—Ivanovic barely got near him, either.
Winner: Andre Ayew
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While Jefferson Montero was a wing threat, the man opposite him showed great movement and intelligence to affect play for Swansea coming infield from the right channel.
Andre Ayew's Premier League debut saw him score an equalising goal, show himself as a big competitor and provide a fine outlet for the team on the counter. A composed drag-back and finish earned him a debut goal at the second attempt, which was no small feat as he was being challenged and blocked by John Terry.
The former Marseille man showed a regular willingness to come in off the flank and enter the penalty box as an extra attacker, join up in midfield to help provide an overload and also track back, working hard to help his full-back.
Live on Sky Sports post-game, Garry Monk said "many big teams looked at Ayew" in the summer, but it wasn't about money—he was keen to sign for Swansea, and the performance showed "how well he had fit straight into the side."
