European Champions inch past Intrepid Potters

Roberto Di Matteo was forced to rely on a late goal from England international Ashley Cole as Stoke City took the game to European Champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, almost leaving the capital with a point after a strong performance.

Neither team were able to carve out any major chances in the first half, Jonathan Walters going closest on 20 minutes when his header struck the Chelsea crossbar. Chelsea held the majority of possession as a largely unchanged Stoke side battled hard and dug their heels in against the London club. Mata & Hazard were creative and attempted to make the most of the possession but were unable to find that killer pass for Fernando Torres beyond the Stoke defence. A 5 man midfield from Stoke that consisted of two holding midfielders (N’Zonzi & Whelan) and one attacking playmaker (Adam) were always able to defuse any attacking threat. Steven N’Zonzi especially put in a man of the match performance for Stoke in his second successive start for the club as he looked composed not just on the ball, but off it too. Branislav Ivanovic looked to have taken a dive in the first half to attempt to win a penalty against Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross, but escaped without caution. Barring a couple of speculative efforts from David Luiz & Ashley Cole, the teams went into the break goalless and this story was felt across the country as for the first time in 8 years, not a single home team had scored a goal in the first 45 minutes.

Oscar then saw his own theatrical expertise come to the forefront as he went for an audacious tumble which referee Michael Oliver spotted and awarded the Brazilian a yellow card for his actions. On 62 minutes, Chelsea introduced Victor Moses in an attempt to add an attacking threat, but they were still unable to create clear cut chances as goalkeeper Asmir Begovic kept every Chelsea half-chance at bay. Stoke also showed a bit of adventure that had been lacking in many other away fixtures recently as substitutes Matthew Etherington & Kenwyne Jones combined to give Stoke a chance on 79 minutes, although the Stoke winger Etherington was unable to find the net. It was Chelsea who were able to take the lead though on 85 minutes through an unlikely source as left back Ashley Cole finished a flowing Chelsea move off from close range as the home side finally broke the deadlock.

The game wasn’t short of controversy however and a late lunge from David Luiz on Jonathan Walters saw the defender given a yellow card when it perhaps should or could have been red. Stoke boss Tony Pulis saw his own defender Andy Wilkinson given a three match ban earlier this week, so I’m sure that Pulis will ensure his own complaint will not fall on deaf ears.

All in all it was another successful game against a big team for Stoke, but the club have now endured their worst winless streak in almost 10 years after an 11^th straight game without a win. Unfortunately you can manipulate statistics whichever way you want, and for some fans, 4 wins in 27 league games doesn’t make for great reading, but some impressive performances and a different look about the team, we can hope that the win we are constantly coming so close to deserving, will arrive sooner rather than later.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Ramires, Mikel (Lampard 82), Mata (Terry 89), Oscar, Hazard (Moses 62), Torres

Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Walters, N'Zonzi, Whelan, Adam (Owen 64), Kightly (Etherington 72), Crouch (Jones 75)

Report submitted by: Ross Hancock