After a second half that would have always failed to live up to the incredible final minutes of the first, Chelsea walk way from Stamford Bridge with their lead at the Premier League’s summit reserved – regardless of what result Manchester City can conjure up tomorrow.
The first half witnessed arguably one of the most miraculous strikes in Premier League history; Charlie Adam audaciously lobbing Thibaut Courtois from inside his own half to cancel out Eden Hazard’s 37th minute penalty. Re-live the first half in full with This Is Futbol’s half-time report here.
That strike was a gift from the gods, but it’s a gift from the otherwise exceptional Asmir Begovic that decided the match. He produced save after save throughout the match but on the hour mark, rolled the ball out somewhat lackadaisically to the Potters defence. Chelsea’s Willian quickly anticipated and passed the ball to Hazard who squared it to Loic Remy across Begovic’s path, leaving the Frenchman to covert into an empty net.
Stoke City went up the other end and hit the post minutes later, but it was a futile effort in an otherwise dominant performance from Chelsea – eventually finishing the match with over 60% possession.
The Stoke boss threw on Peter Crouch and Erik Peters for Stephen Ireland and Charlie Adam to try and give his side a new lease of life for the final ten minutes, but it had the reverse effect; Hazard wriggling his way through once again via a one-two on the edge of the box to find himself at an acute angle to Begovic’s goal. He squared across the six-yard line to Juan Cuadrado, but the Stoke ‘keeper, with the assistance of his defenders, managed to stop the Colombian’s effort from point-blank range.
In typical Jose Mourinho style, Chelsea saw out the match with professionalism, slowing down the tempo, keeping shape and letting the visitors wear themselves down. The crucial disappointment, however, will be losing Diego Costa – who found himself heading back down the tunnel ten minutes after coming on from the bench with a hamstring injury.