Stoke 4-0

Independent:
Two Jonathan Walters howlers set Chelsea en route to rout
by simon Hart

They say any port in a storm will do and so it is proving for Chelsea.
Away from the toxic atmosphere in the stands at Stamford Bridge, the Londoners are on quite a roll. This was Chelsea’s sixth successive away victory under Rafael Benitez and it was undoubtedly their most impressive as they tore apart a Stoke City team who had not lost at home since last February.
Admittedly this Potteries outpost does not intimidate Chelsea as it does other clubs – the Londoners are unbeaten here since 1975 – but three days after their League Cup semi-final home loss to Swansea City, Chelsea showed that their crises are strictly relative, no matter how well-publicised.
Yes, they may have lost two successive home games, yes, fans may be unhappy about Benitez being there and about Frank Lampard’s approaching departure, but as transitional seasons go, things really could be worse as they moved up to third place, four points behind Manchester City. As Benitez noted afterwards: “Every week we can’t be thinking ‘crisis, not crisis’. We are scoring more goals than the team was scoring in the past, we are conceding half the goals.”
While Chelsea’s good day was capped by John Terry’s return from injury with an 11-minute substitute cameo, this really was the worst of days for Jon Walters, the Stoke forward who headed two own-goals and blazed over a late penalty to earn ironic “man of the match” chants from the away end. Chelsea added to Walters’ unwanted double with a Lampard penalty and Eden Hazard wonder goal to inflict Stoke’s heaviest top-flight defeat at the Britannia.
Chelsea have hit 20 goals in this sequence of six away victories and explaining the contrast between this and the home blanks against QPR and Swansea, Benitez noted how: “You play away and they come [at] you, you have more space behind and the movement of your players can kill them.”
Chelsea came into the game showing some significant changes after that League Cup semi-final loss. Petr Cech was back in goal and there were starting roles for Lampard and Ryan Bertrand in midfield and up front for Demba Ba, the latter taking the place, predictably, of Fernando Torres.
With Gary Cahill absent for the birth of his boy, David Luiz joined Branislav Ivanovic in the heart of Chelsea’s defence and they had an early let-off after seven minutes when Andy Wilkinson’s deflected shot ran to Kenwyne Jones, but he steered his shot a whisker wide.
That was as close as Stoke would come, and Chelsea nearly broke through in the 25th minute after one passage of prolonged possession ended with Hazard and Ba combining to play in Lampard but Asmir  Begovic flicked out a boot to divert the midfielder’s first-time shot. Lampard then created a chance for Ba with a high ball behind Robert Huth that the striker latched on to. Begovic was equal to the shot, however, and Wilkinson’s superb tackle stopped Ramires turning in the loose ball.
Stoke’s defending was less impressive in first-half stoppage time as Walters dived in ahead of Juan Mata to head Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross into his own net. It was a goal with its origin in Lampard’s willingness to chase a lost cause, the midfielder closing down Geoff Cameron to win a throw. From Mata’s resulting cross, neither Wilkinson nor Etherington could clear and Hazard set up Azpilicueta to cross.
The second half began with Ashley Cole testing Begovic with a near-post drive, but Stoke came again with Steven Nzonzi’s powerful strike drawing a fingertip save from Cech. Etherington then went down in the box under a challenge by Azpilicueta but Sian Massey’s raised flag indicated that the winger had been offside.
The contest was over in the 62nd minute with Walters’ second own goal, the forward nodding in Mata’s corner under pressure from Lampard. “The second goal kills us,” said Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager.
Two minutes later, it was three as Lampard struck from the spot. It looked a harsh decision by Andre Marriner as although Mata had Huth behind him and Ryan Shawcross in front of him neither man seemed to make much contact. “Robert has his hand on his shoulder but Mata’s legs collapse,” complained Pulis. Regardless, Lampard lashed in goal 194 of his Chelsea career, eight behind Bobby Tambling’s all-time record.
Hazard made it four, collecting the ball some 30 metres out, turned into space and unleashed a superb angled shot which flew wide of Begovic’s right hand and left the net bulging.

Stoke (4-5-1): Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson; Walters, Whelan, Adam (Whitehead, 79), Nzonzi, Etherington (Kightly, 86); Jones (Jerome, 78).

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Azpilicueta (Ferreira, 83), Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole; Lampard, Ramires; Hazard, Mata (Terry, 79), Bertrand; Ba Mani. Dieke; Asante, Scott; Carney, Little.

Referee: Andre Marriner.
Man of the match: Lampard (Chelsea)
Match rating: 7/10

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Observer:

Stoke City's Jon Walters scores two own goals to hand Chelsea easy win
Paul Wilson at the Britannia Stadium

You have to hand it to Stoke: the spectators have an attitude as uncompromising as the players. Midway through the first half here, as the European champions attempted to slow the game down by passing across midfield and patiently waiting for the opportunity to play the killer ball, the home crowd struck up a chant of "Boring, boring". As if stung by the enormity of being so insulted in these parts, Eden Hazard and Demba Ba promptly combined to produce a moment of true quality and a shooting chance for Frank Lampard, who rather fluffed his lines by allowing Asmir Begovic to save with his legs.
Boring or not, Chelsea managed to deprive the Potters of their proud claim to be the last team in all four divisions with an unbeaten home record, proving that while Rafael Benítez's side might have been through a blip with defeats to QPR and Swansea, they can still do it on a freezing cold Saturday in Stoke. Chelsea did not just end the record, they demolished it, and deserved to, though it always comes in handy when the home side chips in with two own goals from the same player, who then goes on to miss a penalty.
"It wasn't our day today, it was Chelsea's," Tony Pulis admitted. "Up until the second goal I thought we were the better team but it just didn't go for us."
That is not to suggest Chelsea had everything their own way. They would have been in trouble after just eight minutes had Kenwyne Jones finished with more composure when a rebound from an Andy Wilkinson shot left him with only Petr Cech to beat. The goalkeeper stood up well but Jones still failed to test him, rolling his shot inches beyond a post from the sort of position Stoke would spend the rest of the afternoon trying to reproduce.
Chelsea also took something of a physical battering, with Hazard in particular on the receiving end of some meaty challenges, and naturally the more he protested to the referee the more the crowd enjoyed it.
"We knew it would be tough here," Benítez said. "It was intense and physical but we were ready for that."
After a shaky period in the middle of the first half, Chelsea found their bearings and were beginning to get on top by the interval, though it still took an own goal to break the deadlock, Jon Walters heading past his own goalkeeper from César Azpilicueta's dipping cross. Juan Mata may or may not have scored had Walters left the ball alone, but for the previous few minutes Stoke had been taking no chances, trying and generally succeeding in getting heads or bodies in the way of everything Chelsea could throw at them.
Ashley Cole brought a save from Begovic at the start of the second half after Ba had done well to reach and control Lampard's searching pass, but Chelsea kept inviting Stoke back into the game by needlessly giving the ball away, and when they stood off Steven Nzonzi just before the hour it took a good save from Cech to beat out a rising shot.
Chelsea got even luckier a few minutes later. Andre Marriner pointed to the spot when Azpilicueta felled Matthew Etherington in the area, only to find the visitors reprieved by Sian Massey's flag for offside.
Replays showed there was not much in it, but confirmed the linesperson had been absolutely correct.
Stoke's luck ran out shortly after that, with the match settled by two more Chelsea goals in three minutes. The hapless Walters contributed the first from Mata's corner, getting himself into a tangle facing his own net under pressure from Lampard and ending up getting in the way of the Chelsea captain but not out of the way of the ball. Perhaps, like Paul Scholes, Walters is just not cut out for getting back to help out his defence.
On Chelsea's next visit to the Stoke penalty area Robert Huth went through Mata from behind. Home defenders looked in vain for any help from the referee's assistant, leaving Lampard to score emphatically from the spot.
With the game safe Fernando Torres and then John Terry joined the action, the latter to a rapturous reception from the Chelsea support.
Terry fouled Walters to give away the last-minute penalty that the Stoke player all too predictably blasted too high, prompting the visiting fans to pile on the misery by chanting that Walters scores when he wants.
Fittingly, it was Hazard who had provided the true final flourish a few minutes earlier, neatly stepping inside a challenge and beating Begovic from 25 yards with a stunning left-foot drive. Not even Stoke could call that boring.


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Telegraph:

Stoke City 0 Chelsea 4:
Oliver Brown

Chelsea are discovering that life on the road can be every bit as invigorating as Jack Kerouac suggested. Away from suffocating tensions on the home front at Stamford Bridge, where supporters have hardly helped inspire the team with recent mutinous chants, Rafael Benítez’s players extended their prolific away form to nine goals in two games while inflicting uponStoke City the club’s heaviest home defeat in the Premier League.
True, they were aided by a performance of nightmarish misfortune by Stoke’s Jonathan Walters, who scored two own goals before fluffing his opportunity of a reprieve as he missed a late penalty. Benítez smiled at being asked when he had last seen such a remarkably gaffe-prone individual display.
“We had one of our own last week,” he said, recalling Branislav Ivanovic’s two wretched defensive lapses against Swansea, the memories of which were emphatically expunged by this decisive victory.
Such is the febrile atmosphere around Chelsea this season that their every result is scrutinised for some portent of Benitez’s future. “We can’t every week be thinking, 'crisis, not a crisis’,” argued the interim manager, desperate to ensure that this win restored some normality to a chaotic campaign.
Chelsea stand third in the Premier League, not that you would have known it from the fans’ now-familiar song repertoire of “We don’t care about Rafa” and “There’s only one Di Matteo”.
Benítez was evasive when pressed on whether his side felt more relaxed away from south-west London, but there was no mistaking his satisfaction at a win that rekindled the club’s faint vestiges of hope for the title.
In a veiled broadside at his predecessor, Roberto Di Matteo, he was not shy of advertising Chelsea’s resurgence under his watch: “We are conceding fewer goals than in the past. We are also scoring more, which means we have more balance.”
He had primed his men for the particularly physical test at the Britannia Stadium, but he could not have foreseen the gifts that arrived courtesy of the hapless Walters. The Irishman has developed a reputation as an effective forward but on this evidence he is not lavishly furnished in the defensive department.
His afternoon had begun inauspiciously, when Walters set himself for an extravagant volley and proceeded to boot the ball straight into his own face, and from there his afternoon took ever more darkly comic turns. He had to endure the indignity of heading Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross into his own net on the stroke of half-time and then, remarkably, he contrived to repeat the trick early in the second half when he nodded in Juan Mata’s corner. Walters was handed the opportunity to redeem himself by taking a penalty with his team already 4-0 down, and promptly skied his attempt over the bar.
There appeared no hole in the Britannia pitch large enough to swallow him, even if Tony Pulis offered a few consoling words afterwards. “Jon’s all right,” the Stoke manager assured. “We look after people at this club.”
Benítez could scarcely have asked for more exquisitely-wrapped presents from Walters, en route to three points. Positive messages abounded for his team, not least the Frank Lampard penalty that took the midfielder clear of Kerry Dixon as the club’s second-highest all-time leading scorer, with 194 goals.
Nine more and Lampard can usurp Bobby Tambling at the top of the list, even if this looks unlikely to dissuade Roman Abramovich from his plan to offload the 34 year-old in the summer. There was also a return from injury for John Terry, who came through the final 10 minutes of the match unscathed, despite handing Stoke their penalty for his late foul on Walters.
Pulis was involved in a lively exchange of words with referee Andre Marriner, claiming that Chelsea did not deserve their penalty when Mata went to ground in a tangle with Robert Huth. “I was just a bit disappointed with a couple of things that went on, let’s leave it at that,” he said.
Seldom was he more dismayed than upon seeing Walters undo all Stoke’s first-half resistance. The striker had been under pressure from Mata as he sought to defend a ball whipped in by Azpilicueta, but succeeded only in redirecting it past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Any ambition Stoke had of a comeback was soon snuffed out by poor Walters, who intercepted Mata’s corner with another fine header, unfortunately in the wrong direction. “It killed us off,” admitted Pulis, who watched helplessly as Lampard lashed home his penalty, before Eden Hazard produced a moment of inspiration from 25 yards.

Match details
Stoke City: Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson; Walters, Whelan, Nzonzi, Etherington (Kightly 85,; Adam (Whitehead 78); Jones(Jerome 78).
Subs not used: Sorensen, Upson, Crouch, Shotton.

Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta (Ferreira 82), Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole; Hazard, Lampard, Ramires, Bertrand; Mata (Terry 76); Ba (Torres 70).
Subs not used: Turnbull, Oscar, Marin, Ake.
Ref: Andre Marriner.
Att: 27.348

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Times:


Stoke 0 Chelsea 4: Comedy of errors- Jonathan Norcroft

 GOING to the Britannia stadium when you’re under pressure can be like trying to walk across a bed of nails when you have blisters on your feet. Chelsea, however, positively skipped to the other side — after Jonathan Walters carried them half of the way.
 Poor Walters. One of the Premier League’s better players this season, one of football’s 100% men, whose diligence never dips, whose commitment never wavers. Unfortunately, these very qualities contributed inadvertently to one of the most self-harming performances a footballer has ever put in. The quiz question for years to come: which player scored two own goals and missed a penalty in the same game as his side’s unbeaten home record was shattered?
 Walters’ afternoon began like Stoke’s — well. He was part of a typically muscular, collective and energetic effort by Tony Pulis’s team. But in first-half stoppage time, paying for his conscientiousness when tracking back to help his defenders, Walters headed into his own net.

He repeated the mishap by nodding Juan Mata’s corner past Asmir Begovic to put Chelsea 2-0 up and then — with his team 4-0 down after a Frank Lampard penalty and a comely strike by Eden Hazard — he was offered a shot at partial redemption when John Terry, returning from injury as a substitute, was questionably adjudged to have fouled him. Walters stepped up to the spot kick, gave it a good, firm, uncomplicated welly . . . and saw the ball strike the bar and balloon to, if not Row Z, Row Q at the very least. Stoke fans offered tremendous backing, singing “One Johnny Walters” as he stood there anguished. Chelsea supporters joined in.
 At full-time, Walters staggered down the tunnel, head bowed. You worried: would he get home, find he’d left the gas on, the dog had eaten his winning lottery ticket and a cult had moved in next door?
 Lampard’s goals-per-game record for Chelsea is almost as good as Walters’. Chelsea’s penalty was also iffy — given against Robert Huth for a mild shove on Mata — but Lampard rammed it high and hard past Begovic for his 194th Chelsea goal, taking him to outright second on the club’s all-time scoring list.
 Stoke had never lost at the Britannia in the league by more than two goals. For Rafa Benitez, this was the passing of an important test. He drilled into Chelsea’s Britannia stadium virgins such as Hazard that they would have to be brave “in a physical game against a good team who have a clear idea of how they want to play”, and the message clearly registered.
 Hazard maybe wasn’t always physically courageous — sometimes bullied off the ball by Andy Wilkinson — but the Belgian has fortitude of character, for he never stopped showing for the ball. After Wilkinson was booked and had to curb himself, Hazard began to win the battle.
 For the first own goal, Mata was behind Walters, but probably not close enough to excuse his error.
 He was blameless for his second “goal”. Mata’s delivery at a corner was excellent and Lampard would have headed the ball home had Walters not gone for it.
 Until 2-0 Stoke were Chelsea’s equals and Andre Marriner awarded a penalty for a trip on Matt Etherington before reneging when his assistant, Sian Massey, correctly flagged offside.
 Hazard’s 25-yard curling finish was the pick of the four goals; the moment Walters volleyed the ball into his own face just another element in the Irishman’s day to forget.

 Stoke City: Begovic 7, Cameron 6, Shawcross 6, Huth 5, Wilkinson 6, Whelan 6, Nzonzi 7, Walters 3, Adam 5 (Whitehead 79min), Etherington 6 (Kightly 86min), Jones 6 (Jerome 78min)
 Chelsea: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6 (Ferreira 83min), Ivanovic 6, Luiz 6, Cole 6, Lampard 8, Ramires 6, Hazard 7, Bertrand 5, Mata 6 (Terry 79min), Ba 6 (Torres 71min)



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Mail:
Stoke 0 Chelsea 4: Walters brace of own goals gives Blues footing for rampage.. and then he misses a penalty!
By ELEANOR CROOKS, PRESS ASSOCIATION

Stoke's long unbeaten home run was brought to a shuddering halt as Chelsea chalked up a much-needed victory - with a helping hand from Jonathan Walters.
The Potters had not lost at the Britannia Stadium in the Barclays Premier League since February and have proved formidable opponents for the league's big guns, but this was their biggest home loss since returning to the top flight in 2008.
It began to go wrong in injury time at the end of the first half when Walters headed into his own net, and remarkably the striker repeated the trick in the 62nd minute.
Three minutes later Frank Lampard netted a penalty after Juan Mata went down and Eden Hazard rounded off the scoring with a long-range screamer 17 minutes from time.
Walters was given the chance to at least score one goal at the right end when Stoke were awarded a 90th-minute penalty but in keeping with the rest of the striker's day he could only find the top of the bar.
Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez made the decision to start Demba Ba for his first Premier League appearance for the club, with Fernando Torres dropping to the bench.
Defender Gary Cahill was absent to be at the birth of his son so David Luiz dropped back into defence alongside Branislav Ivanovic, the culprit for both Swansea's goals in the midweek Capital One Cup defeat.
Lampard started while captain John Terry was on the bench for the first time since sustaining knee ligament damage two months ago.
Benitez was once again feeling the heat from the Chelsea fans following the Swansea result and defeat by QPR in their last league game, but they began positively and only a well-timed tackle from Ryan Shawcross prevented Ramires getting a shot away.
The Stoke captain showed just why the Potters were so keen to tie him to a long-term deal with some assured play to steady the ship and soon it was the home side who were threatening.
In the eighth minute a shot from Andy Wilkinson was blocked by Ramires and the ball fell to Kenwyne Jones on the right of the area. His shot beat Petr Cech but rolled just past the post.
Chelsea were rattled and Cech was grateful to hang on to a header from Steven Nzonzi, who could not get enough power into his effort.
The visitors were struggling to get out of their half but a break in the 25th minute provided them with a great chance as Ba found Lampard running into the area only for Asmir Begovic to stick out a leg and deny him.
The Bosnian's reputation has soared this season and he was again the saviour for Stoke six minutes later as Ba outpaced Robert Huth but could not beat the keeper with the angle tightening, while Wilkinson's crunching tackle stopped Ramires from reaching the loose ball.
Stoke by now were reduced to half-chances - a shot on the turn from Jones that was blocked by Luiz and a volley from Glenn Whelan that was straight at Cech.
It looked like the teams would go into half-time all square but with injury time almost up Cesar Azpilicueta swung in a cross from the right.
Mata was poised to convert but he was beaten to the ball by a diving Walters, who powered the ball past his own keeper.
The striker attempted to make amends after the restart but, although he beat the Chelsea defence, the angle was too narrow to really trouble Cech.
It was an open game and, after Begovic had produced another decent stop to push Ashley Cole's low drive round the post, Nzonzi tested Cech with a fine strike from 25 yards that the Chelsea keeper pushed over the bar.
Shortly after, Stoke thought they had been given a penalty when Matthew Etherington fell under a challenge from Azpilicueta but referee Andre Marriner had in fact awarded a free-kick to Chelsea for offside.
The killer goal arrived in the 62nd minute, and incredibly it was another own goal from Walters. This time Mata sent in a corner and the Stoke striker got his head to the ball just ahead of Lampard.
The Potters were now staring at the end of their long unbeaten home run, and things got worse three minutes later when they conceded a penalty.
Mata broke through and went to ground under pressure from both Huth and Shawcross, although it was the contact from Huth that seemed to prompt Marriner to point to the spot.
Lampard smashed the penalty down the middle, and he should have added a fourth moments later but shot straight at Begovic from point-blank range.
The visitors did manage another in the 73rd minute, though, and what a strike it was as Hazard let fly from 25 yards and the ball rocketed into the top corner.
Two minutes before Torres had replaced Ba, while Terry was given a little over 10 minutes - and was greeted by his now customary reaction from the opposing fans.
There was still time for the defender to give away a penalty for a foul on Walters, but there was no redemption for the striker.

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Mirror:

Troubled Walters: Chelsea thump Stoke 4-0 as Walters scores two OGs and misses a penalty
by Ian Edwards
Rafa Benitez appears to have found love in Madrid to soothe the sting of a tempestuous relationship with Chelsea and this emphatic victory over Stoke could deepen admiration at the Bernebeu yet further.
The toxic, anti-Rafa Blues supporters ­would cheerfully drive him out of Stamford Bridge, yet the Spaniard could have an even more opulent new home next ­season — back where he started as a youth coach.
Influential members of Real Madrid want him to ­replace their own bête-noir Jose Mourinho, so Benitez was ­well insulated from the freezing temperatures and icy blasts of “we don’t care about Rafa” at the Britannia Stadium.
Chelsea ripped Stoke’s proud unbeaten record to shreds, and became the first side to inflict the embarrassment of a beating by more than two clear goals.
Their cause was helped by two own goals by Jonathan Walters, who presumably would also pay for ­hypnotherapy if it could help him forget the fact he also missed a penalty and ­volleyed the ball into his own face.
Retaining an impressive record of never tasting defeat at the Britannia, Chelsea’s effort was improved further by Eden Hazard’s marvellous
35-yard strike for the fourth goal and the return of captain John Terry for the first time since ­injured his knee in November.
Although the former England captain was guilty of gifting Stoke their late ­penalty.
Perhaps the only negative for Benitez was the fact Frank Lampard, restored after his rest for the debacle against Swansea, moved to ­within nine goals of overtaking Bobby Tambling’s record to spark the latest ­chorus of “sign him up”.
Benitez said: “I have spoken about Frank one hundred times. I don’t want to talk about one player.
“It was a team performance. He is under contract. He is playing well and he has got to keep performing at the level he is doing. He is fine, it is not an issue.
“All the players showed great quality and character.
“We had to tell some of them what to expect and how physical and intense it would be.
“We were ready for that challenge. When we are away the movement of our players can kill the opponents.”
Perhaps more of an issue is the fact Chelsea appear far happier away from the ­hostile environment of their own home at the moment. A fifth successive win on their travels contrasts with the caustic reactions to ­successive defeats at ­Stamford Bridge.
Stoke’s resistance was ­broken in first-half stoppage time.
Walters headed Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross beyond his own goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who had already denied Lampard from 10 yards and Demba Ba from marking his full Premier league debut with a goal. It was the second Walters ­header inside his own
six-yard box, from Juan ­Mata’s corner, which “killed” Stoke according to Pulis.
And it came in the middle of a 23-minute spell in which Chelsea ripped the heart out of their opponents.
Pulis said: “We conceded some poor goals and I was disappointed with the ­penalty.
“Robert Huth had his hand on his shoulder but Mata’s legs just collapsed. But Jon Walters will be fine, we look after our players.
“It was not our day, but to lose by four goals is hard to take.”
Matthew Etherington had been denied an earlier ­penalty by an offside flag after Azpilicueta’s trip and there was a soft element to the way Mata went to ground for Lampard to smash in Stoke’s third.
Then Hazard struck equally powerfully from distance.
Walters generated even greater power, but lacked the accuracy of Lampard from 12 yards, endangering stewards in the stand behind the goal, after Terry had clipped the Stoke striker in the area.
It was a miserable end to a miserable day for Walters and Co.

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Sun:
Stoke 0 Chelsea 4
by Rob Beasley

IT SURELY doesn’t get any worse than this — two own goals and a shocking penalty miss.
Poor Jonathan Walters. Everything he did went wrong, awfully wrong.
It would be cruel to name him man of the match.
But the fact is he was the man who had the most effect on the outcome of this game.
It was his incredible diving header that gave Chelsea the lead just before half-time.
Eden Hazard coolly held the ball up inside the City penalty area before rolling it on to the over-lapping Cesar Azpilicueta.
The Spaniard’s cross looked perfect for compatriot Juan Mata to head home but Walters intervened in disastrous fashion.
Just as he did in the 62nd minute from Mata’s corner with Frank Lampard this time poised to score.
Again, Walters tried to clear but he succeeded only in turning the ball into his own net AGAIN.
And then, with Stoke trailing 4-0, he had the chance to redeem himself for at least for one of his OGs when City earned a penalty.
But he blew it, blazing his spot-kick against the top of the bar and high into the Boothen End to complete a sorry showing.
No wonder Chelsea fans began singing “Super Jonny Walters” as they revelled in his misery.
But Stoke fans quickly joined in, a desperate attempt to lift his spirits and show they were with him in his darkest hour, well 90 minutes actually.
They remember the forward’s heroics for the Potters, even if this was a rotten day for him.
OK, the penalty miss — after he was fouled by substitute John Terry — did not really matter, the game was dead and gone.
But his two own goals were deeply damaging.
They gifted Chelsea a two-goal advantage on a ground where the home side had gone undefeated in the league for almost a year.
There was no way back.
Especially with Chelsea turning a 2-0 lead into 3-0 inside three minutes.
Mata was brought down by a combination of Ryan Shawcross and Robert Huth. And Lampard smashed home an unstoppable penalty — that’s the way to do it Jonathan! — for game over.
The Blues, though, saved the best for last, Hazard driving home the goal of the game after 73 minutes.
If Walters had a shocker, then Lampard had a stormer.
He now has 194 goals for Chelsea — one clear of Kerry Dixon — and is just eight behind Bobby Tambling’s record of 202.
The clock is seemingly ticking down on his trophy-laden Blues career but he did his best to make up ground on Tambling at the Britannia Stadium. As it turned out, he notched only the one goal — outdone by Walters, then — but he was so close to a landmark afternoon of his own.
Two fine saves by Asmir Begovic denied him two other certain goals.
And that man Walters robbed him of another, the Stoke forward turning into his own net for the second time, just as Lamps was about to nod home.
No wonder delirious Chelsea fans were singing “Sign him up” as they made another desperate bid to persuade billionaire owner Roman Abramovich to change his mind and keep the England midfielder at the Bridge.
It is unlikely to happen, which is a crying shame.
As role models go, they surely don’t come any bigger or better than the man revered as “super Frankie Lampard”.
That’s because in his stellar Chelsea career he’s seen it all, done it all, won it all.
And he’s done it with class and with style. Just as he’s doing now in his swansong.
Still, Abramovich thinks he can do without him.
And it’s not just the fans who vehemently disagree. So do the facts.
When Lampard plays, Chelsea tend to win and he tends to score.
It is a remarkably different story when he is overlooked.
This match was a classic example of what Lampard brings to the table.
Energy and vision in the middle and that unerring ability to ghost into the box unnoticed and unmarked.
Just like he did in the 25th minute here against Stoke.
Chelsea strung an impressive succession of passes together in a spell of football from the Blues that first brought boos from the locals and then a chant of ‘boring’!
But those ‘boring’ calls were strangled in Potters throats as Lampard raced clear through the middle.
Surely, this was it — 1-0 — and an outstanding contender for goal of the season.
But this time Chelsea’s prolific midfielder hit his low shot too close to the keeper and Begovic stretched out a leg to save.
And, 20 minutes from the end, Begovic pulled off an even better save to again frustrate Frank.
Demba Ba teed him up, Lampard hit it sweetly but Begovic pulled off a blinder.
Lamps will have felt frustrated at the end but one look at Walters would have reminded him it could have been worse. Much worse.

Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson, Walters, Whelan, Nzonzi, Etherington (Kightly 86), Adam (Whitehead 79), Jones (Jerome 78). Subs not used: Sorensen, Upson, Crouch, Shotton. Booked:Wilkinson.

Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta (Ferreira 83), Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Hazard, Lampard, Ramires, Bertrand, Mata (Terry 79), Ba (Torres 71). Subs not used:Turnbull, Oscar, Marin, Ake.
Goals: Walters 45 og, 62 og, Lampard 65 pen, Hazard 73.
Att: 27,348
Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).

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Express:

STOKE CITY 0 - CHELSEA 4: HERO FRANK LAMPARD MAKES STOKE CHANGE

By John Richardson

He might have been portrayed as a ‘fat Spanish waiter’ by Stoke’s Boothen End but Rafa Benitez delivered for Chelsea.
It was certainly silver service on a bitterly cold day in the Potteries and gratefully accepted as the doom and gloom of the club’s shock midweek home League Cup semi-final defeat against Swansea was pierced.
And just for a welcome change, any abuse hurled in the Chelsea interim manager’s direction came from opposition fans and not his own.
Chelsea’s travelling fans restricted themselves to their “Super Frank” chants in homage of 34-year-old midfielder Lampard, whose time at the Bridge appears up and a welcome back to John Terry, who returned from injury for the last 11 minutes of this demolition – long enough to concede a penalty.
Lampard, once again in tandem with livewire Eden Hazard, proved that he is far from his sell-by date as the last unbeaten home record in all four divisions was systematically torn to shreds.
The fortress which is the Britannia Stadium and which has stood firm for the previous 17 Premier League games, was dismantled with a little help from within.
Luckless Republic of Ireland striker Jon Walters twice found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time to leave Chelsea 2-0 up and a subdued Stoke with nowhere to go. He even spurned an unwanted hat-trick with a late penalty miss.
Chelsea had started sluggishly, only to be awoken from their early slumbers by the man with no long- term future at the club.
Seemingly hemmed in by a marauding Stoke who with an icy blast at their backs were determined to make their illustrious visitors suffer, Chelsea sprung out of their defensive straitjacket with energy and skill.
Following pinball accuracy on the edge of the box involving Hazard and Demba Ba, Lampard was in on goal only for Stoke keeper Asmire Begovic to deflect around the post with his right foot. In Chelsea’s next meaningful attack it was Lampard supplying the ammunition for Ba to accelerate into the area but found Begovic once again in defiant mood.
A Chelsea goal at that stage would have been tough on Tony Pulis’s side, who had, with their now refined style, created the greater danger – Kenwyne Jones going the closest with a shot narrowly past the far post.
But it was Chelsea who took the lead seconds before the break through the first spectacular own goal from Walters.
Hazard fed Cesar Azpilicueta and his cross seemed destined for Juan Mata until Walters launched himself, but could only direct the ball past his own keeper.
That seemed too much for the Stoke boss, who had already been intent on having a few words with referee Andre Marriner at half time, apparently for the official allowing Chelsea some lenient free-kicks.
Now he was in Marriner’s face, with Benitez alongside the referee acting as his minder.
His mood wasn’t improved when, from a Mata corner, Walters nipped in front of the lurking Lampard and to just to prove that lightning can strike twice the ball skimmed off his head for own goal number two.
When Stoke’s Robert Huth pushed Mata over in the box, Lampard stepped up to blast his penalty high into the net in front of his adoring fans to make it 3-0. “Sign him up, sign him up,” they cried.
It was effectively game over and Lampard should have helped himself to a second goal, firing straight at Begovic from close range.
Chelsea’s final goal was all of their own making and had the Hazard stamp of class all over it – the Belgian midfield master exploding a 25-yarder past a bemused Begovic.
It definitely wasn’t Walters’ day. When Terry tripped him in the box he hammered the spot-kick against the top of the bar and off it went into the stratosphere – one for stargazer Brian Cox to keep an eye on.
Pulis maintained: “I don’t think it was a 4-0. Things just didn’t go for us. The second goal killed us.
“Jon (Walters) is fine. We look after people at this club.”
Benitez said: “We have found it more difficult at home to play our football. Away there is more space to kill teams.”


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Star:

Stoke 0 - Chelsea 4: Jonathan Walters goes to Pot with two own goals - and missed pen

By Paul Hetherington

STOKE dismantled their own unbeaten home record – the last in England’s four divisions this season – to help Chelsea run riot.
Jonathan Walters headed two own goals and missed a penalty on a bizarre day in the Potteries.
Stoke then gave away a penalty which man-of-the-match Frank Lampard blasted home.
And even Chelsea’s fourth goal from Eden Hazard took a deflection off Ryan Shawcross.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis said: “It just didn’t go for us and as for Jon scoring two own goals, we’ll look after him because that’s what we do at the club.
“I was disappointed with the referee’s decision in giving Chelsea a penalty and then Hazard scores a wonder goal.
“For the penalty, Robert did lay a hand on Mata but then his legs just collapsed.
“It was a soft penalty but it was the second goal which killed us.”
But all that shouldn’t detract from a superb Chelsea display which gave under-fire boss Rafa Benitez a lot of satisfaction.
Despite another outstanding performance by Lampard, who is set to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, Benitez said: “Frank is doing well but it is about the team.
“He has to keep performing. He is under contract until the end of the season and it is not an issue at the moment.”
Chelsea hit back superbly from their Capital One Cup defeat by Swansea on a day it all went wrong for Stoke.
That was summed up when the Walters hit an 89th-minute spot kick against the top of the bar after substitute John Terry was adjudged to have fouled him.
Chelsea should have been behind after only eight minutes – despite dominating possession from the start.
The chance fell to Kenwyne Jones, who shot across the face of the goal with his left foot and wide of the far post.
When Stoke got into their stride Steven Nzonzi had a header held by fit-again Chelsea keeper Petr Cech.
But Chelsea deserved to take the lead in the 25th minute after a brilliant move, only to be denied by Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic.
A spell of Chelsea keep-ball had the Stoke supporters screaming “boring”.
But the Londoners deservedly went ahead in first-half added time through the luckless Walters.
Hazard rolled the ball into the path of Cesar Azpilicueta, whose cross was headed into his own goal by Walters as he threw himself in front of Juan Mata. Stoke weren’t happy when they thought they had a penalty for Cesar Azpilicueta’s tackle on Matty Etherington – but referee’s assistant Sian Massey had her flag raised for offside.
Chelsea then killed off Stoke with two goals in two minutes.
In the 62nd minute Walters again headed into his own goal as he tried to prevent Lampard reaching Hazard’s corner.
Then former Chelsea defender Robert Huth pushed Mata from behind and Lampard lashed home the penalty.
Begovic denied Lampard with a point-blank save before Hazard made it four with a 25-yard screamer which skimmed off the head of Shawcross on its way in.
Bentitez added: “The team is doing a great job.”