It was a feisty competition between Stoke City and Chelsea at the Bet365 Stadium as an undercurrent of tension permeated the entire game on Saturday. Stoke contained the Premier League leaders well with Lee Grant making a few great saves for the Potters but the final scoreline almost seems inevitable in hindsight even though it looked unlikely in the final stages of the game.
Willian netted first with a free-kick in at the near post which really should have been saved by Grant. Stoke scored next when Jon Walters converted from the spot in the 37th minute. It was at the end of the Potters’ best period in the later part of the second half that Chelsea clinched the winner through Gary Cahill. Even though the Blues did concede in their sixth consecutive league game, they are now 13 points clear of the rest and almost sure to be crowned champions in May.
Here are the five major talking points from a riveting contest between the two sides:
#1 Stoke’s disallowed goal
Before Walters’s penalty, Stoke had the opportunity to equalise through a corner when the Chelsea defenders seemed to have simply switched off. An unchecked Bruno Martins Indi came bursting forward after the initial corner had been defended and met the loose ball with a header. As soon as his attempt beat Thibaut Courtois, the linesman blew his whistle for what was initially assumed to be a call for offside.
Replay suggested otherwise as the centre-back was clearly onside, however, Saido Berahino was not. The former West Bromwich Albion man was making his full home debut for the Potters and was the one to blame as he pushed Cesar Azpilicueta to the ground from an offside position thus resulting in the disallowed goal. Berahino’s mistake was the worst part of the forward’s otherwise desultory performance.
#2 The return of the red mist
Diego Costa hasn’t been his usual angry and belligerent self on the pitch since the opening month of the season and viewers of the Premier League had almost become accustomed to a more benevolent version of the striker. However, the red mist descended on the Spaniard against the Potters once again as he tussled and tumbled with members of their backline and some more.
He looked like he was in one of his stormy moods right off the bat and was promptly in the referee’s book inside the 17th minute. One shy of his 50th Premier League goal, the former Atletico Madrid player was fiercely competitive and created trouble for the Potters throughout the night. On many occasions, he even risked the danger of inviting a second yellow and was lucky to see out the entire game.
#3 Cahill’s moment of redemption
Gary Cahill, the current captain of the Blues, made the most embarrassing mistake when he pushed Jon Walters to the ground with his arm by way of defending a free kick. While Walters made the most of the infringement, tumbling down and rolling over, Cahill’s push was unmistakeable and the Potters were awarded a spot kick which they did not fail to capitalise on.
With the game at a stalemate and Mark Hughes’s men doing their utmost to come back from behind, Cahill redeemed himself in front of the away fans when he gave Chelsea the lead in the 87th minute. Similar to Indi’s disallowed goal, the centre-half pounced on a loose ball from a corner and slotted it high into the back of the net. After conceding the penalty that saw them facing a potential draw, Cahill did more than enough to make up for his indiscretion.
#4 Not one of fair play’s best days
Stoke City are one of those sides that contribute to the image of the Premier League as an extremely physical league. Known for their confrontational style of play, their game against Chelsea was always going to be a high-strung affair and the match definitely did not disappoint. Fouls abounded with both sides bringing down players quite frequently. As many as six Stoke players were shown a yellow card with Phil Bardsley being sent off after a second booking when he fouled Cesc Fabregas in injury time.
The Blues came away with a better fair-play record but only marginally with Fabregas and Costa going into the referee’s book. The significant number of bookings, however, was just a tip of the iceberg as the home side committed 16 fouls in contrast to Chelsea’s 11.
It’s no wonder Eden Hazard was left back in London after surviving an onslaught of fouls from Manchester United this past Monday in the FA Cup quarter-final draw. His minor muscular injury could have been a lot worse after tonight’s outing.
#5 What went wrong for Stoke
One might have assumed that Stoke had a better chance of pulling off an upset against Chelsea with Eden Hazard back in London but the Blues coped really well with Willian and Pedro instead. Even though Stoke pushed around their opponents quite a bit, they were actually doing a commendable job of absorbing pressure from the Blues. However, while they were working well as a unit to close of the opposition, it was their individual errors that proved to be their downfall.
Grant, who was otherwise very good in front of the sticks and made some truly important saves (for the sake of the scoreline), failed to make a textbook save when Willian beat him at his near post with his free kick. Geoff Cameron was another player who made terrible decisions when isolated against players from the opposition and neither was Berahino any better.
The Potters also struggled to maintain possession after winning back the ball. While they cut off counter-attacks efficiently on a number of occasions, they failed to take advantage of their momentum by losing possession after a couple of passes. Neither were Stoke particularly potent on the offence as they registered absolutely no shots on target from open play, the penalty being their only one of the night.
