Sunderland vs. Chelsea: Score and Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

In a matchup of the Premier League's top club coming into Wednesday against its worst team, Chelsea widened their cushion atop the table to six points on Wednesday, beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light.

Cesc Fabregas scored the lone goal in the 40th minute as the Blues reeled off their 10th straight victory in the Premier League. It was the first goal in league play for Fabregas this season.

The Blues also hit a mark they didn't reach all of last season, as WhoScored.com noted:

Antonio Conte continues to look like a better and better addition, as the Chelsea manager has his new club playing inspired football.

Overall, Chelsea held 66 percent of the possession and outshot Sunderland 19-8 (6-3 on goal), per ESPN FC.

In a first half that saw Chelsea control the flow of possession, a quick counter-attack led to the game's lone tally. The Blues methodically capitalised on a turnover in midfield, and Fabregas and Willian played a quick one-two on the edge of the box to give Fabregas space to fire on goal.

The Spanish midfielder didn't miss, searing a low drive to the bottom-right corner that eluded the outstretched arm of Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

It's been a good run of form for Fabregas:

Even if Fabregas is no longer a top option for the Blues, he has value for the club, as Miguel Delaney of ESPN mused:

Fabregas was the hero, but he wasn't the only player worthy of praise.

After all, N'Golo Kante started the move, as Sam Wallace of the Telegraph noted:

Sunderland, to their credit, didn't fold in the second half, creating two excellent chances, though Adnan Januzaj had his chance saved in brilliant fashion by Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 47th minute, while Fabio Borini sent his effort in the box high and wide a few minutes later.

From there, the Blues took the sting out of Sunderland's attack for most of the second half, though Sunderland had one final chance to equalise in stoppage time. Patrick van Aanholt's blistering shot toward the top-left corner of Chelsea's net seemed destined to secure a point for Sunderland, but miraculously, a leaping Courtois got a hand on the effort and pushed it clear of danger.

That had the Chelsea fans feeling grateful, as Henry Winter of the Times tweeted:

Gabriele Marcotti of ESPN was equally impressed:

Up next for the red-hot Blues is a matchup against Crystal Palace on Saturday, while Sunderland will face Watford as the Black Cats attempt to crawl out of last place in the Premier League.

Post-Match Reaction

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

After the match, Conte was pleased with his side, as he told the club's website, even if he thought the Blues should have found a second tally:

"

We created many chances to score the second goal and kill the game. At the end, Sunderland had a great chance to draw. Only a great save from Thibaut allowed us to win.

But to win 10 games in a row is not easy and I am pleased for my players. It’s fantastic, above all in this league when you have to fight in every game until the end to take the three points. They deserve this for their commitment and work-rate every day.

Now we have to continue as in three days we have another tough game against Crystal Palace. I hope we recover very well after this battle and to arrive at Christmas in an incredible position in the table.

"

He was also pleased with his starring man, Fabregas.

"Cesc is a great example for the other players because this was only the third game he has started [in the league]," Conte noted. "This month he has a fantastic attitude, great behaviour, great commitment."

Not surprisingly, Black Cats manager David Moyes was singing a different tune for the home side.

"I was really disappointed with the goal we conceded; if we’d had better possession that wouldn’t have happened, we missed two or three tackles," he said. "Chelsea have really good quality, and up until then we had restricted them to only one or two clear-cut opportunities."

Moyes added: "We were always going to be up against it playing Chelsea, but we were resilient, and the players stuck at their task. I had a feeling and I hoped that something might have fell for us in the last few minutes, but unfortunately it didn’t. We need to start taking points from these sorts of games, we can’t just keep losing."

Indeed, if Sunderland don't start finding a way to steal a few points, they'll be playing their football a division down next year. 

Chelsea, meanwhile, seem incapable of losing at this point in the season. Conte and his 3-4-3 system have invigorated the Blues and left the rest of the Premier League playing catch-up.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.