[Player Ratings] Fulham 1-3 Chelsea: Schurrle Hat-Trick Keeps Blues Top

Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League after a second-half hat-trick from Andre Schurrle stunned Fulham in a 3-1 win.

Jose Mourinho’s men were poor in the first half as their Champions League trip to Istanbul on Wednesday took it’s toll. Fulham were the only team that looked like scoring as Clint Dempsey went close with a header.

But Chelsea came out for the second half looking like a different side, with Eden Hazard producing the kind of match-winning performance that has been missing recently. The Belgian clipped the ball through for Schurrle to open the scoring in the 52nd minute and Chelsea soon raced into an unforgiving lead.

Two further goals in three minutes was enough to kill the contest, Hazard again providing the assist on 65 minutes before Fernando Torres gave Schurrle the chance to lift the ball beyond Maarten Stekelenburg minutes later.

John Heitinga pulled one back for Fulham on 74 minutes but Schurrle’s treble was more than enough to hand Chelsea the three points and move them four points clear of second place Arsenal who went down 1-0 at Stoke.

Player Ratings

Cech- 7- Chelsea were indebted to their stopper in the first half who saved well from a Kasami free-kick.

Azpilicueta- 6- nothing spectacular from the full back but got forward well and never ignored his defensive duties.

Terry- 7- even in the first half when Fulham looked more likely to score, Terry kept the door firmly shut.

Cahill- 7- very solid performance. Dominated in the air.

Ivanovic- 6- a good show from the Serbian although could have done more to join in attacks.

Matic- 7- a composed and dogged performance. Screened his defenders brilliantly and gave the security for Chelsea to commit players forward.

Ramires- 8- worked very well in the centre with Matic, bombing forward with power knowing his partner would back him up.

Schurrle- 9- a fantastic second half performance. Had a poor first half but more than made up for it with three very well taken goals. His clinical finishing won the Blues three very important points. Man of the Match.

Hazard- 8- only beaten to the MOM award by Schurrle by the fact that the German scored all the goals but the Belgian wizard has a hand in all of them and was outstanding after the break.

Oscar- 5- the Brazilian’s slump in form since the New Year continues. Struggled to make any impact whatsoever.

Torres- 6- rewarded for his performance in Turkey with a rare Premier League start. Struggled at times but laid on Schurrle’s third goal.

Subs

Luiz- 6- on for Schurrle with just three minutes to play. Should have scored with one particular chance.

Mikel- 6- on for Oscar after 78 minutes and helped maintain Chelsea’s lead.

Ba- 5- came on for Torres on 82 minutes but did little to help his team.

What did you make of Schurrle’s performance?…Which goal did you like most?…Has he put a good case forward to feature more often from the start?…Who else impressed you at Craven Cottage?…Can Chelsea maintain their four point advantage at the top?…please leave your comments below…