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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he left Eden Hazard out of Saturday's victory over Aston Villa for tactical reasons.
The Belgian, who won Player of the Year awards from both the PFA and the Football Writers' Association last year, has been one of many at Stamford Bridge to have struggled for form this season.
Hazard has not scored for his club this season, despite notching in every game for his country.
Show all 22 1 /22Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Begovic: 6 out of 10 Was called into action several times in the first half and, apart from one nervy moment when he cleared Baba Rahman’s pass into the crowd, the goalkeeper dealt with his tests well.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Baba: 5 out of 10 Was handed his first Premier League start at left-back and although he got involved in Chelsea’s attacks, he was caught out several times at the back. His penchant for going forwards didn’t cost Chelsea today, but that issue may be something Mourinho will look to improve.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Zouma: 6 out of 10 His strength came in handy against the likes of Gestede and the defender enjoyed a solid game.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Terry: 6 out of 10 Marshalled Chelsea’s back line well, and combined with Zouma to deal with the physical presence of Gestede particularly at set pieces.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Azpilicueta: 7 out of 10 Despite being caught out early on by Ayew, the Spaniard did well to patrol and defend the right-back area in the absence of Branislav Ivanovic. Made a key clearance to deny Lescott in the second half.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Loftus-Cheek: 6 out of 10 Was handed a start at Stamford Bridge and used his power and pace to get involved in Chelsea’s attacks in the first half while also narrowly missing the goal with a shot. Was brought off for Matic at half-time.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Fabregas: 7 out of 10 Provided the lovely ball over the Villa defence that Costa controlled to score Chelsea’s second and, overall, was more involved and had more influence over the Blues’ attacking play – nearly scoring with nine minutes to go.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Ramires: 6 out of 10 Partnered Loftus-Cheek and then Matic and worked well to provide that extra bit of defensive cover the club needed particularly with the likes of Grealish popping up everywhere in attack.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Willian: 7 out of 10 Used his pace to run onto Guzan’s pass to Lescott and dispossess the Villa defender to set up Chelsea’s first goal. Displayed yet more hard work down the flank for the champions.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Pedro: 5 out of 10 Began the game with a high tempo and caused Hutton problems with his sheer pace, but was also guilty of occasionally losing concentration and could not prove as big of a threat as Willian from his flank. Was brought off for Hazard late on.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Diego Costa: 8 out of 10 The striker scored one and displayed some superb individual work when he chested Fabregas’ clipped ball down to drive a shot at goal in the second half that deflected off Hutton to make it 2-0. Appeared, at times, frustrated with being marked so closely but used his power and pace to make the difference.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Guzan: 4 out of 10 Looked slightly nervy in the opening stages of the game and it showed when he decided to pass the ball out to Lescott instead of booting it clear in the 34th minute, which ended in Chelsea scoring.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Hutton: 6 out of 10 Was exposed at times by Pedro, and despite Chelsea’s second goal being given as an own goal by the defender, he couldn’t do too much about Costa’s strike hitting him onto its way into the goal. Did well to push past Baba Rahman when attacking, though.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Richards: 5 out of 10 Had his work cut out to try and contain the threat of Costa, and failed to track the run of the striker closely enough in the build-up to the opener. Later allowed his frustration to get the better of him when he chested Costa down to the pitch after the striker had gone down under pressure but otherwise did well when called into action.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Lescott: 4 out of 10 Didn’t react quickly enough to clear Guzan’s pass to him, instead being dispossessed by Willian ahead of Chelsea’s first goal.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Richardson: 5 out of 10 Was nowhere to be seen when Willian found space on the right wing to set up Costa for the opener and, after being cautioned for pulling the Brazilian back in the second half, was taken off.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Westwood: 5 out of 10 Gave the ball away to Pedro early on, which resulted in a close chance for the home side before giving away a free-kick later for a foul on the Spaniard. Saw his ability to control proceedings in the middle of the park reduce as the game went on.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Grealish: 6 out of 10 Was one of Villa’s most attacking players, using his pace to win the ball in the centre and on the flanks of the pitch, and test Azpilicueta with his subsequent runs. However, he diminished as the game progressed.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Ayew: 5 out of 10 Used his pace to test Azpilicueta several times in the first half, but could not deliver the pass to help the likes of Gestede score. Was cautioned later for a foul on Ramires.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Gueye: 5 out of 10 Was often outmuscled by Chelsea’s forwards during the game.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Gil: 5 out of 10 Didn’t do enough in attack when Villa went forward and, at times, was caught out.
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa player ratings Gestede: 4 out of 10 Was ineffective up front for Villa, with Terry and Zouma combining to keep him quiet.
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Unlike other high-profile names at the club like John Terry and Nemanja Matic, Hazard had yet to be dropped.
However, Mourinho, who recently promised to be 'ruthless' when it came to team selection, finally decided to relegate the winger to the bench on Saturday.
"I left out Hazard because we are conceding lots of goals," he said. "We needed more stability and effort to help make the team more solid.
"I like quality, but when you don't have the ball you don't have quality. And you don't have control.
"It was a tactical decision I felt we had to make and I told the players that this was not the time to be selfish and think only of themselves and be selfish," Mourinho continued.
"This has to be a moment for the team and nothing else.
"I want them to look at the bigger picture to get the results we need back. Once we have done thast we can then go back to what we were before.
"When the confidence is a bit low as it has been the quality goes down also. This was not a brilliant performance today, but it was a solid one. We sought more stability and control and we got it."
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