Stoke City vs. Chelsea: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Chelsea confirmed their place at the top of the Premier League table through Christmas on Monday, as they produced a clinical 2-0 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
A goal after just two minutes from John Terry gave the Blues a lead at a ground that is generally perceived to be tough to visit, before Cesc Fabregas slotted home with just over 10 minutes remaining to wrap up the three points.
In between those goals, Stoke offered a spirited challenge—although that often came in the form of robust challenges rather than clear-cut chances.
Here are some winners and losers from Monday's game.
Winner: John Terry
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Big players produce big moments in the big games, and on Monday, Chelsea captain John Terry delivered a vital goal at an important time to drive his side to a hugely important three points.
With the game barely 90 seconds old, Terry rose to meet Cesc Fabregas's corner and powered the ball into the net to give Chelsea an immediate advantage.
That decisively changed the context of the encounter for the positive: The Blues had the goal they wanted closer to the first whistle than they could have ever hoped. Consequently, they amended their setup to make it extremely difficult for Stoke to score, safe in the knowledge that they could sacrifice a bit of their own attacking threat because they did not need to score another goal.
Stoke never really got near to finding an equaliser, something that was also in great part down to the work of Terry and centre-back partner Gary Cahill—both showed their quality in dealing well with the aerial threat provided by Stoke's Peter Crouch.
The game as a whole was a test of Chelsea's character, as their mettle was really examined. With Terry leading them, as he has done for over a decade, it was perhaps never in doubt that they would pass the test.
"This team needs to go on and win trophies—we are building the right foundations to go on and do that," Terry said afterwards to Sky Sports. "The difference tonight was the way we countered and opened them up, it could have been a little bit more and I'm disappointed it wasn't. It was an important win for us to secure that top spot at Christmas."
Loser: Stoke's Reputation
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Since parting company with Tony Pulis in the summer of 2013, Stoke have attempted to undergo a rebranding by moving away from the somewhat agricultural methods that Pulis often employed (to great effect) to something more modern and pleasing on the eye.
In some regards, current boss Mark Hughes has succeeded in that task, albeit without making the actual results noticeably better than they were during the Pulis era. Monday, though, was a return to the "bad" old ways, reopening the club to all the old digs about their playing style and uncompromising approach.
At times, the treatment bordered on the violent, as Eden Hazard was wiped out more than once by Phil Bardsley in what often appeared to be a targeted attack. The likes of Steven Nzonzi, Ryan Shawcross and substitute Charlie Adam (who seemed to throw a number of deliberate elbows) also raised eyebrows with some of their conduct.
With Geoff Cameron providing the long throw-ins into the box for Peter Crouch, for a while it was as if Pulis was right back there in the home dugout.
Of course, it is to Chelsea's great credit that they simply brushed off the bad challenges and still won with a bit to spare. Stoke's tactics did not work: In a way, that only makes the embarrassment of some of their methods all the more acute.
In front of the television cameras, this was a return to the bad old ways for Stoke, a regression made worse by the fact it did not help them get anything from the contest. If the powers that be at Stoke want the club to be perceived in a different way, then this was undoubtedly a setback.
Winner: Nemanja Matic
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Another league match, another standout midfield performance from Chelsea's Nemanja Matic. It has been mentioned a lot in recent days, but it is worth repeating: Chelsea's only Premier League defeat this season (against Newcastle) came in a game that Matic missed due to suspension.
On Monday, Matic produced another superior all-round midfield performance, doing his defensive job brilliantly but also helping to launch a number of important counter-attacks.
The Serb barely seemed to put a foot wrong all match, relieving the pressure on his defenders. And with the limited John Obi Mikel alongside him, Matic often stepped forward to give Fabregas, Hazard and others the platform to express themselves on the ball.
As we near the halfway stage of the campaign, it is tempting to start thinking about potential candidates for player of the season. On this evidence, Matic must be in the conversation. For someone not on the pitch to score the goals, that is an achievement in itself.
Winner: Jose Mourinho
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During his managerial career, on the seven previous occasions Jose Mourinho has been top of the table at Christmas, he has gone on to guide his side to the title.
That is an ominous statistic for all of Chelsea's rivals—the Blues are in a winning position that their manager does not tend to relinquish.
The Portuguese was clearly delighted with the performance of his squad, who did well to cope with a Stoke side that tried to rile them at every opportunity.
The next three fixtures—West Ham, Southampton and Tottenham—will be similarly testing, but Mourinho has a proven track record of dealing with such runs. And rather than a test, he may see those games as a chance to make a huge statement heading into January.
Mourinho told Sky Sports:
"Fantastic performance, the victory means a bit more than three points. I am really pleased because we have won in one of the most difficult places. We played very, very well. We had the game under control against a very good team. The game was fair, we were aggressive and they were aggressive.
We are top of the league since day one and we are there because we are playing really, really well.
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