Stoke City vs. Chelsea: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Chelsea lost yet again in the Premier League, falling 1-0 to Stoke City on Saturday at the Britannia Stadium.
Marko Arnautovic scored the game's only goal in the 53rd minute with a spectacular volley, finishing a move started by the impressive Xherdan Shaqiri. Chelsea had a penalty appeal denied late in the second half as substitute Loic Remy stumbled in the box following a challenge by Potters goalkeeper Jack Butland.
The loss was Chelsea's seventh in 12 league matches this season. The defending champions are just three points above the relegation zone.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho was banned from the touchline for the match following a rant directed at referee Jonathan Moss during a loss to West Ham last month, according to BBC Sport.
Here, B/R selects winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Xherdan Shaqiri
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Arnautovic will get the glory for the game-winning goal, but Shaqiri was Stoke City's standout performer in the attacking third.
The Swiss midfielder provided the Potters' most consisting creative outlet during his 82 minutes on the pitch, consistently terrorizing Baba Rahman with trickery, clever passing and dangerous crossing. Shaqiri even played a role in the goal, starting the scoring sequence with an incisive pass that opened up Chelsea's back line.
According to Squawka, Shaqiri created three chances for Stoke, one more than the rest of his teammates combined.
"(Shaqiri) showed his skills as well as physicality in attack, particularly against Baba Rahman," wrote the Daily Mail's Kieran Gill, who rated Shaqiri an eight out of 10. "(He) provided teasing deliveries and the inch-perfect through ball for Stoke’s opener."
Winner, Loser, Maybe Both or Maybe Neither: Loic Remy
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Arnautovic's goal represented the first major turning point of the match. The second came in the 85th minute and involved Remy and Butland.
After receiving a pass from Oscar, Diego Costa played through to Remy, who leaped over Butland's challenge and fired off target from a tight angle while struggling to keep his balance. But that's a severe oversimplification.
Replays showed that although Butland did not make contact with Remy, the Chelsea man had to leave his feet in order to avoid the tackle. As a consequence, Remy lost his balance and missed the chance. So is that a penalty?
I would argue that a challenge does not have to make contact in order for it to be a foul. In this case, Butland's sliding challenge caused Remy to lose control, and thus referee Anthony Taylor should have awarded a penalty.
Your own opinion might differ, though it might just relate to your club allegiances. Either way, it's difficult to know whether to praise or criticize Remy for his role in the sequence.
Some will praise him for trying to continue with the play, rather than leaving his leg in for what would have been an obvious foul. Others will criticize him, arguing that he should have played for the foul.
"That Remy incident is why players dive," AFP correspondent Kieran Canning tweeted. "No reward for staying on their feet."
Winner: The Efficiency of Marko Arnautovic
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Arnautovic scored the game's only goal with a superb finish in the 53rd minute. As Squawka noted on Twitter, the Austrian has scored three times in the Premier League this season on just five shots.
You can hardly be more efficient than that, and that's just how Stoke like it. In less than two weeks, the Potters have beaten Chelsea twice, once in the league and once in the Capital One Cup.
"We displayed great character today, all the qualities you need to compete against one of the best teams in Europe. They have world-class players," Stoke manager Mark Hughes told BBC Sport. "We are really delighted. We have beaten them twice in a short period of time and both efforts were outstanding."
Losers: Chelsea
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For the most part, this was a good performance by Chelsea. The Blues hit the woodwork in the second half and forced good saves out of Butland before and after the break. In addition, Remy easily could have won a penalty in the 85th minute.
But in the end, the result was another loss, the seventh in just 12 games for Chelsea in the Premier League this season. Only a few months after winning the league at a trot, the Blues sit a mere three points above the relegation zone.
The stats really are grim. According to Opta Joe, Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight away games in the Premier League. As noted by ESPN's Paul Carr, the Blues have lost three straight league matches for the first time since October 1999, well before the Roman Abramovich reign began.
Before this season, the reigning top-flight champions had never lost as many as seven of their first 12 league games after lifting the trophy, according to Bleacher Report's Ryan Bailey. The last time Chelsea did so was 1978-79, when they were relegated from the old First Division, according to Sporting Intelligence.
But perhaps this is the worst. In the last 15 days, Chelsea have lost four times—the same number as all of last season. That suggests that, if anything, the problem is only intensifying.
Chelsea were unlucky this time, but the Blues have major issues to work out. If they don't do so soon, they really could find themselves in a relegation fight.
Loser: Jose Mourinho
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Mourinho was not on the touchline for this one, but—for now, at least—he's still the man in charge. For that reason, he has to take some blame here.
Chelsea have fallen apart this season, only months after winning the Premier League title. Mourinho has been at the center of the implosion, wading into a series of controversies with other managers and members of his own staff. But none of that matters to the club and owner Roman Abramovich as much as the results.
On that end, Mourinho and Chelsea aren't faring any better. Through 12 Premier League games, the Blues sit three points above the relegation zone. With well over half the season remaining, Mourinho has already set a personal record of seven league losses, according to the BBC's Ben Smith.
Does that mean Mourinho is doomed? Abramovich has been notoriously quick to sack managers in the past, but Mourinho is a genuine legend—and the most successful manager Chelsea have ever had.
And yet, it's hard to see Abramovich allowing the current trend to continue.
"Mourinho is a great manager, but even the merest sniffle of relegation at a club like Chelsea and you've got to act," tweeted B/R's Will Tidey. "Bullet coming."
On Wednesday, Mourinho expressed relief after his Chelsea side scored a late goal to beat Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Champions League, according to ESPN FC. But after this latest loss, that relief might just prove temporary.
