League on Christmas Day after a hard-fought
victory over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
John Terry's header inside two minutes kick-
started a spiky contest that threatened to spill over
at times.
Yet for all Stoke's desire, Chelsea always looked in
control and deservedly doubled their lead through
Cesc Fabregas's scuffed finish.
Steven Nzonzi had Stoke's best chance but his
deflected shot was well saved.
Victory took Chelsea three points clear of second-
placed Manchester City.
The only blight on Chelsea's night came with a late
injury to Eden Hazard, who limped off after
appearing to injure an ankle in a tangle with
Jonathan Walters.
Ahead of the kick-off, much talk centred on the
hackneyed issue of whether Chelsea's stars could
perform on a cold December night in Stoke.
Those inside the Britannia Stadium did not have to
wait long for an answer, with barely 90 seconds on
the clock when the visitors went in front.
After Branislav Ivanovic's shot from Chelsea's first
attack was charged down, Terry's unchallenged
header from Fabregas' resulting corner powered
past the exposed Asmir Begovic.
Tempers nearly boiled over when Phil Bardsley
went in hard on Hazard as the Belgian advanced
down the left.
The tackle enraged Chelsea manager Jose
Mourinho but referee Neil Swarbrick showed only a
yellow card.
Stoke perked up and almost levelled when Nzonzi's
low strike deflected off Terry and forced a
wonderful save down low from Thibaut Courtois,
recalled in place of Petr Cech after a muscular
injury.
Diego Costa should have doubled Chelsea's lead
after half-an-hour when he raced clear on to
Fabregas' through ball but dragged his low drive
just wide.
Stoke's only win in 12 previous Premier League
meetings with Chelsea came in this fixture last
season, when they won 3-2 thanks to a last-minute
winner from Oussama Assaidi, but a lack of midfield
quality dimmed hopes of a repeat.
Instead, Stoke allowed themselves to be riled by the
prickly Costa, who clashed repeatedly with Ryan
Shawcross in the opening half and early in the
second with Erik Pieters, earning the Stoke man a
yellow card.
Stoke introduced Charlie Adam as a substitute in an
attempt to add some composure in midfield and he
nearly equalised when his sliced 20-yard drive
spun just wide of the left-hand post.
With 12 minutes left, Hazard found Fabregas,
whose untidy finish bobbled beyond the wrong-
footed Begovic.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes: "I think we were
frustrated to concede early on. It affected our game
plan. When we gained momentum they were able to
take the sting out of the game and slow things
"I've seen them play better. They were helped by
the opening goal because they could then sit deep
and the onus was on us. With the quality they have
they didn't create that many clear-cut chances."
Phil Bardsley escaped with a
yellow card for this heavy
challenge on Eden Hazard
Cesc Fabregas' goal was his
second in the league this
season
Diego Costa was a constant
thorn in the side of the Stoke
defence
Opposing managers Mark
Hughes and Jose Mourinho
clashed during a heated first
period
No comments:
Post a Comment