Vito Mannone - 6
I felt Vito did alright. Produced plenty of saves I'd expect of him, nothing really incredible as far as I remember. Competent performance, which was what was required after he'd been slightly shaky of late.
Ondrej Celustka - 7
Celustka did alright. Got forward very well and defended quite well. Never looked in serious danger, and looked a little more like the Celustka who won rave reviews in the first few games of the season.
Wes Brown - 8
Thought Wes was once again, as per usual, magnificent. On any other day he'd have been man of the match, but alas there were so many good performances out there the other night. Strong, and always in the right place at the right time.
John O'Shea - 8
Just like Brown really, felt O'Shea had a very, very good game. Usually in the right place at the right time. Him and his former Manchester United colleague are looking formidable of late.
Andrea Dossena - 4
Doss is a huge gamble I feel every time he steps onto the pitch, and against Chelsea there were a few occasions where he was prone to being caught up field and not fit enough to get back. Notably Chelsea's goal started down his side.
Lee Cattermole - 9
Who is this guy, and where has the real Lee Cattermole gone? Lee's now proving, as he did against Chelsea that there's a proper footballer in there somewhere. Something we've seen glimpses of before and he's showing again now with his second superb outing in a row. Hopefully this can continue. Dropping into defence and keeping things simple seems to be a great role for him, and adds an extra dimension to our play.
Craig Gardner - 2
Beyond abysmal and a shocking inclusion which only served to give Ki some rest ahead of the weekend. If it wasn't clear to anyone that he doesn't fit into the new system already, this game proved it beyond any doubt. Against Chelsea he was undisciplined, constantly misplacing passes and was generally more useful to the visitors than he was us.
Seb Larsson - 7
Ran himself into the ground once again and generally put in a solid performance. Never looked like playing that killer ball or being much of a threat, but he worked, worked, and worked some more. Has to be some credit for that from a fanbase prone to maligning him.
Emanuele Giaccherini - 9
More on him below...
Adam Johnson - 5
Johnson had a poor game I felt. I think he's infinitely better on the right than left, but still looked poor and rarely managed to get beyond Ashley Cole. Crosses continue to be over-hit and the trickery and accuracy of shots seems to have gone haywire.
Jozy Altidore - 7
It's like this with Jozy Altidore for me -- he worked hard, he chased things down and tried to carve an opportunity on a night when no clear cut ones presented themselves to him. Unfortunately I don't feel he nor Fletcher are suited to being our one guy up front. Altidore merely the lesser of two evils. Looking purely at Chelsea though, he was ok. No more or less.
Fabio Borini - 8
When he came on I wondered why? He's someone I don't really see as much of a threat to the opposition, but it goes to show what I know that he popped in with a goal and an assist, and probably should have had two for himself. Really good performance which should keep him in the side for Norwich.
Ki Sung-Yeung - 8
We looked a much better and more settled team with him in the side and he managed to ties us all together and force some excellent passes about where Gardner couldn't. Goal was magnificently well taken. So calm in the circumstances, and capped a good night in a more advanced position.
Phil Bardsley - 5
Only on a few minutes to shore things up.
Man Of The Match: Emanuele Giaccherini
Most weeks we're scrambling for someone to be the MOTM, so it was nice this week to have a plethora of options. While others had good shouts, I'm opting for the Italian as not only did he graft superbly all night, he was a constant threat too. He really seemed to take the game by the scruff of the neck from the first minute, and for me was our best performer on the night. By a smidge.