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Alvaro Morata scored his first hat-trick for Chelsea as they extended their unbeaten run in the league to five games. They walked away from the Bet365 stadium with all three points thanks to a 4-0 victory.
Pedro was the other scorer for Chelsea as The Blues made the best of the mistakes at the back by Stoke in a match that was controlled by the hosts.
Here are the talking points from the game:
#5 - Marcos Alonso escapes red card - TWICE!
Marcos Alonso had a solid game until the 50th minute. A clash in the Diouf and he went down holding his face despite there being no contact.
The referee didn't give him the freekick he was looking for and he lost his head from there. He made a silly challenge on Joe Allen and was rightfully booked by Mike Dean.
Minute later, he ran through Diouf and luckily escaped a second booking. The referee did give a free kick to Stoke City but somehow, did not send the Spaniard off.
Conte noticed Alonso was not in the right state of mind and sent Gary Cahill to warm-up. But before the club captain could come on, there was another incident that could have easily seen Alonso getting the marching orders.
Stoke City were awarded a throw-in but the left wingback took the ball and threw it. Again, to Chelsea's and Alonso's luck, Mike Dean did not pull out the card.
#4 - Shaqiri is too good for Stoke City
One man who stood out for Stoke City in today's defeat was Shaqiri. The former Bayern Munich player was whipping in crosses and slipping in through balls every now and then during the game.
However, none of the Stoke players were getting at the end of it and it was easily being cleared by the Chelsea defenders. The Swiss international was giving the Chelsea defenders a tough time with the ball at his feet but was not getting any support from his teammates.
Shaqiri is clearly too good for Stoke City and needs to switch clubs as soon as possible. He has it all to play for a club that will challenge for a Champions League spot but it might just not be a Premier League club.
#3 - Alvaro Morata and Cesar Azpilicueta are linking up well
When Chelsea signed Alvaro Morata signed from Real Madrid, a lot of Pundits and fans spoke about how much time he would take to adapt in the Premier League. Six games in, he's already started to silence all of them.
Cesar Azpilicueata and Morata have been linking up so well and the duo has combined for 4 goals already this season. They are reportedly best friends off the pitch and that is helping a lot in their 'connection' on the pitch as well.
Some Chelsea fans are already comparing the two to the partnership of Fabregas & Diego Costa while some have gone overboard and have linked the duo to legendary partnership of Lampard and Drogba.
#2 - Bench is the only place for Gary Cahill
Gary Cahill might be the club captain at Chelsea but it is better for the club if he remains on the bench. The Chelsea back line is a lot more solid if the Englishman is not in it.
Azpilicueta, Christensen and Rudiger was rock solid at the back today and were keeping the Stoke City players at bay. However, when Conte brought on Cahill for Alonso, everything went haywire.
Cahill challenge Bakayoko for a header inside the box, then pushed Crouch onto Courtois, leading the goalkeeper suffering a suspected concussion and then made a ridiculous tackle on Eric Choupo-Moting that was luckily not punished by the referee.
#1 - Christensen deserves to start more
ZERO – Christensen made zero defensive errors for Chelsea at the back today. The Danish international, who was brought in as a replacement for David Luiz, was brilliant on the ball and made sure that the Stoke players did not get any chance to have a clear shot at goal.
The 21-year-old clearly deserves to start a lot more after some stunning performances this season. He has played 254 minutes in the Premier League this season and has committed just ONE foul!
He's calm and composed on the pitch and is not someone who pounces into tackles. He waits and waits and gets the ball off the opponents feet when he least expects it. With Luiz back, he might be benched again and that is something he does not deserve after such performances.
The real test, however, is next weekend when Chelsea face Manchester City. The Citizen's are scoring for fun against their opponents and it would be interesting to see h Christensen defends the likes of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.
