Chelsea Show Their Bite in Scrappy Stoke City Win
Games away against Stoke City are often an anomaly.
Players aren't judged by their performance as footballers, it's about how they battle and scrap. And by that measure, Chelsea were more than good value for three points at the Britannia Stadium on Monday.
We didn't see Jose Mourinho's team at their free-flowing best. But don't be fooled into thinking this wasn't an impressive team display—it was a whole lot more.
What we got instead from Chelsea was the very thing that will win them the Premier League title this season.
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They fought for every ball, matching Stoke in every area. It's games like this that earn teams the right to play attractive, pretty football when the time calls for it.
Gary Neville had discussed Chelsea's qualities in the pre-match build-up on Sky Sports. He and Jamie Carragher were looking at what makes Chelsea title favourites, and a key factor was their ability to adapt.
It wasn't about always sticking to a philosophy of how football should be played, explained the ex-Manchester United man. It was about knowing when to turn it on and when to face up to the physical challenge.
Neville's analysis was 90 minutes too early, as we saw exactly what he described.
The pressure was on Chelsea in this game. Not because they were coming up against the might of Mark Hughes' side, but because Manchester City are beginning to ask big questions of them.
City had gained an advantage with a comfortable win against Crystal Palace at the weekend to draw level on points at the top.
As soon as the fixture list had given it to them, Chelsea snatched it back emphatically.
When the question was asked about their mettle, Mourinho's side gave the right answer.
Indeed, it was rather apt they gave their response to City's recent comeback in the title race in a match against Stoke, a team who can count Manuel Pellegrini's side as one of their major scalps already this season.
The Britannia has become the barometer for which championship-winning teams are tested these days. Get a result there, and it shows you can handle almost anything.
Fail to rise to what is laid before you, however, and the question will always remain about a team's substance.
Take Arsenal and how often their title challenge has wilted after a trip to Stoke in recent seasons.
Chelsea failed in the Potteries last season, a time when the manager said they were not ready for success. It's a different policy this term, and coming away with a 2-0 win is confirmation of that, had we not seen it already.
Cesc Fabregas' late goal came on the back of some neat football from Chelsea's attacking threat. His movement into space created by Diego Costa outlined what a talent he is, reading the situation to punish Stoke.
We can marvel at that, yet had this game finished 1-0, it would have still been impressive.
Chelsea showed up and beat Stoke at their own game. That John Terry's second-minute header was looking enough to win this game was a badge of honour in itself.
On the deck, in the air, from a set piece—Chelsea will punish you.
"We talk about controlling games—that's what Chelsea did tonight," Neville enthused at full-time on Sky Sports.
Mourinho was equally complimentary of his players.
"We tried to build a cage around [Peter Crouch] to try to win, I'm not saying the first ball against him in the air because it's almost impossible to do it, but to be in conditions to win the second ball. And we won that," he told the TV cameras.
"Most of the time we kept very good control of the game. [Thibaut] Courtois made a couple of good saves. Yes, he had to come out for a couple of crosses, but I think we had the game physically under control against a very good team."
That's where the victory came for Chelsea, and it's the team's greatest quality.
Eden Hazard and Fabregas will win the headlines for their brilliance, yet this is a side whose one commitment is to winning matches. Regardless.
Chelsea aren't pretentious enough to think football will always win the day, it's about so much more—which they have in abundance.
For the purists, look away now. For those who revel in the sheer bloody mindedness of it all, this is how you win a title.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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