Were Chelsea Lucky to Thrash Stoke City 7-0?

Chelsea smashed Stoke City for seven on Sunday as they sent out a resounding message to Manchester United in the race for Premier League glory.

But were the Blues somewhat fortuitous in gaining such an epic win?

Hat-trick hero Salomon Kalou proved his worth to manager Carlo Ancelotti for inclusion in the Chelsea starting lineup, but could it have all ended rather differently for the Ivory Coast star?

After all, he scored his second goal on 31 minutes by meeting the rebound from Frank Lampard's shot with a two-footed lunge.

And thus rather unsurprisingly, his leg collided with considerable force against the arm of Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, leaving Denmark's finest (who required oxygen on the pitch) exiting Stamford Bridge in an ambulance and on the way to the hospital.

A sending-off offence, according to the official FIFA Laws of the Game booklet for the 2009/10 season, in this case would either be: Serious foul play or violent conduct (as listed in Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct).

However, arguably that is not the case for this incident.

Although, in the interpretations section for Disciplinary Action in Law 12, it does state that "If a player plays in a dangerous manner in a 'normal' challenge, the referee should not take any disciplinary action. If the action is made with obvious risk of injury, the referee should caution the player."

Kalou's challenge could well be argued as dangerous, because after all it was a two-footed lunge.

Sorensen was clearly injured as a result of Kalou's challenge, which is one step further than the aforementioned rule due to the goalkeeper not being at risk of injury, but instead actually being injured.

So if the rule above was a caution for the Chelsea striker, and thus a direct free-kick to Stoke, then what should happen in this instance?

Following the rule of logic, Salomon Kalou should've been sent-off by referee Steve Bennett.

And imagine if, as the laws state, that was the case; Chelsea most probably wouldn't have won 7-0.

Had Kalou's goal been disallowed and the player sent-off, the Blues would've been down to 10 men and only 1-0 up.

It's fair to say at that rate, a 7-0 annihilation most likely wouldn't have materialised, and more than likely with 60 minutes of the match remaining, Stoke City could've easily came back to get a draw, if not win the match themselves.

So if you analyse the challenge by Kalou, and the laws of the game, it might just be fair to say Chelsea were probably lucky to still have eleven men, let alone go on to win 7-0.

And it makes you think, if the above situation was the case, are Chelsea lucky to still be Premier League leaders?

In any case, it's a harsh situation for Thomas Sorensen.

The Danish keeper was injured in a collision which saw his opponent make it 2-0 to the opposition instead of being sent-off and the score remain 1-0.

And to add salt to his wounds, he'll most likely miss the World Cup finals in South Africa due to this injury. Not exactly fair, is it?