Chelsea vs. Stoke City: Score, Grades, Reaction from Premier League
Chelsea reclaimed a seven-point lead at the head of the Premier League table on Saturday evening, beating Stoke City 2-1 after a freak Charlie Adam goal had put the hosts on edge.
Eden Hazard dazzled for Jose Mourinho's side as they followed the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United to victory this weekend, with the club's official Twitter account confirming the result:
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The encounter had a predictably frantic feel to it in the opening exchanges, where a stubborn Stoke were seeking to frustrate their hosts with some success early on.
It was clear this would become a motif later on as possession continued to flow in Chelsea's favour and pushed the Potters into committing numerous fouls, per FourFourTwo's Stats Zone:
Half-time edged within sight as Stoke looked far happier to settle for a scoreless opening period, but a quick blitz of Blues intuition in the 39th minute saw the west Londoners seal their much-needed opener.
Cesc Fabregas spearheaded a charge into the Stoke City area and Philipp Wollscheid was forced into bringing the playmaker down, with Hazard converting from the spot, per the Premier League's official Twitter account:
It was only five minutes later that Adam came through with a goal-of-the-season contender to draw level, though, beating Thibaut Courtois from well inside his own half.
As Eurosport reported, Adam spotted the Chelsea No. 1 way off his line and proceeded to lift Stoke fans off their seats with a goal that sent Mark Hughes' morale soaring:
The Stoke boss had a far simpler team talk on his hands thanks to that 44th-minute contribution, but the introduction of Diego Costa at the break wasn't a bright omen for the guests.
Costa's form has been flagging in this second half of the season as a struggle for full fitness has affected the striker's playing time.
Oscar was withdrawn at the break in place of the Spain international, but Chelsea fears were realised when it took barely 10 minutes before Costa had to be withdrawn.
The forward was confirmed to have suffered a hamstring injury which, depending on its severity, could threaten the rest of Costa's maiden campaign in the Premier League:
Didier Drogba came on in Costa's place, and it wasn't long after his introduction that Mourinho's side rallied to reestablish their lead.
This time, a goalkeeping error from Asmir Begovic allowed Hazard to set Loic Remy up for an easy finish, per Squawka:
Try as they might, Chelsea continued to struggle in the final third when it came to imposing a more ruthless grip on the visitors, capitalising mainly on Stoke mistakes as opposed to asserting their dominance.
However, any positive movements the hosts did unearth tended to originate from Man of the Match, Hazard, with ESPN's Alex Shaw heaping praise on the winger:
Stoke City managed to hold their own in keeping the score down to 2-1, but Chelsea may look at this as yet another opportunity lost in boosting their goal difference.
However, the west Londoners can't be upset with their seven-point lead renewed and a game in hand over their elite peers, taking one step closer to clinching this season's title.
The Blues are now unbeaten in 10 Premier League outings and face Queens Park Rangers next before a hugely important meeting with Manchester United in two weeks' time.
Even a point on Saturday evening could have seen Stoke climb to ninth, but Hughes' team remain in 10th, five points clear of the bottom half.
Player Grades
Thibaut Courtois: C
One can debate just how much of the blame Courtois deserves in allowing Adam to score from such ridiculous range, but there's no arguing against the fact the Belgian could have done more to prevent it.
Fielding such a high line does have its positives, namely in stopping counters from the opposition, but Sky Sports' Peter Hall was among those to find fault in Courtois' positioning:
Mourinho's No. 1 wasn't tested often enough to truly improve his standing from that point, but did respond well to most of the probing that followed from Stoke's end.
Charlie Adam: B+
Against a team of Chelsea's stature, scoring opportunities were always going to be few and far between for Stoke City, so it's just as well Adam was on hand to provide some initiative.
Sensing his chance from an incredible 65 yards out, the Scot at least gave his side a lifeline at Stamford Bridge, even if it did amount to nothing at the end of the 90 minutes.
As well as bagging the equaliser, Adam did his bit on the left flank to help quash Willian's threat and a consistent pressure on Cesc Fabregas largely restricted the Spaniard from reaching top speed.
Eden Hazard: A-
As is usually the case in such tense matches for the Blues, Hazard proved to be the live-wire Chelsea needed just when Mourinho's men were looking short of ideas on Saturday.
As Liam Twomey of Goal.com agrees, the Belgian whiz stood apart from the rest of his team—not for the first time this season—in terms of bringing a little ingenuity to the fray:
For him, this is becoming little more than routine, but Hazard was typically inspirational, scoring Chelsea's opener from 12 yards before setting up Loic Remy for their second.
Post-Match Reaction
Having only just returned from a hamstring injury, seeing Costa crumple to the Stamford Bridge turf with a recurrence of the injury was a sore sight for Chelsea fans on Saturday night.
Speaking to the media after the win, Mourinho confirmed his star striker is looking at "a couple of weeks" on the sidelines, but could be back before season's end:
One of the biggest talking points was Adam's goal and whether Courtois was at fault for conceding it. Goal.com's Jay Jaffa quote Mourinho as saying his No. 1 should have done better:
That being said, Mourinho threw former Blackpool talisman Adam into an elite bracket when speaking of the goal's quality in its own right:
From here, the Blues now have a shorter route to the title and won't care much how they pick up their points.
Mourinho has the blueprint to silverware mapped out, which he says requires another 16 points:
Despite the win, Chelsea have a number of negatives stemming from this match, not least of which is the injury Costa picked up.
That being said, Mourinho will have been encouraged to see Remy get on the scoresheet, with Drogba another highly reliable figure in clutch occasions.
Stoke, meanwhile, will lick their wounds and look back on this outing with some positivity, unfortunate to have conceded defeat thanks to such an avoidable mistake in front of their own goal.
