It's really quite hard to remove the joy and emotion of beating Chelsea from any attempt at an objective summary. We were poor for the opening 20 minutes and looked like getting rolled over, but despite lacking any kind of focal point in attack, we slowly wrested control from a suddenly labouring Chelsea, and then the magic of Coutinho and the blunt force trauma inflicted by Benteke gave us three ultimately deserved points.
Mignolet (7) Not much he could about the goal, and made one wonderful save from Oscar at a crucial moment. Still takes far too long distributing the ball. Often inaccurately.
Clyne (7) A few barked imprecations from his manager seemed to lift his game, and he was a force in attack and defence.
Skrtel (7) Ups his game when he has a tough, physical player like Costa to battle with, and even though Costa looked a mile away from 100% fitness, Skrtel was well on top. Often literally.
Sakho (7). Allowed Skrtel to lead the defence and did the quiet mopping up effectively. Nice long ball out to Benteke too, for the header that led to the goal.
Moreno (5). I love his desire and his speed, and one great 60 yard lungbuster of a run ended up with a smart save from Begovic, but he had one or two moments of utterly bereft defending, one of which led to the goal. Needs to sharpen up mentally.
Milner (6). He ran and ran and ran, and tried hard to influence the game, it didn't always happen for him, but his energy helped us close down the Chelsea midfield and nullify their infrequent attacks.
Can (5) Game of two halves, really. He was ill-disciplined, sloppy and horribly ineffective in the first half, in which he was our worst player, and then came out with far more poise and quality in the second, in which he kept things far simpler. I wonder if Can's problem is that he thinks he's about twice as good as he actually is, and tries to do things on the pitch that he simply hasn't the technique, vision and physical prowess to carry out.
Lucas (6) Very hard to score this display. He was dominant in midfield, had lots of possession and crashed into tackles, which was good to watch. But he does that typical Lucas foul at least ONCE in every single game; you know the one - loses a physical battle due to having no pace, and simply trips up the other player. He should have certainly been sent off. And then that attempt at a Cruyff turn that simply gifted Oscar the ball in a very dangerous place, and only a great save stopped a goal.
Lallana (6) Another one I found hard to score. He had a few shots, which is good to see, and he worked demonically hard at both ends of the pitch, but he lacks that genuine class and quality as a game changer. Still, he caused Chelsea problems on the right, and also did a nice dummy for the Benteke goal, but needs to be doing even more
Firmino (6) He didn't seem at all sure where he was playing in the opening half an hour, as it was less "false 9" than "attacking midfielder who still thinks there's a player ahead of him", but he seems happier with a central role, and his regular forays into central midfield allowed us to dominate by virtue of physical presence and so many people available for the pass. Tidy enough and hopefully much more to come when he gets a regular striker to play behind.
Coutinho (9). He's been in a horrible rut, but this was a delight. His first goal was so psychologically important, and his passing and decision-making was excellent all game, linking well with Lallana and Firmino. Brilliant. MOTM.
Subs: Benteke (8). An aerial mis-match with Azpilicueta on the right, but was too quick and clever for the entire Chelsea defence. Lovely goal. Very good player.