Stoke City 4-0

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Stoke City 0-4 Chelsea: Alvaro Morata scores sublime hat-trick to help champions ease past Potters

By Joe Bernstein for The Mail on Sunday

In the time it's taken Diego Costa to fly to Madrid and sign for Atletico, Chelsea fans have forgotten all about him. Replacement Alvaro Morata bagged a splendid hat-trick and was serenaded by the club's noisy travelling support.

They sang: 'He comes from sunny Spain, he's better than Harry Kane', rather than the unsavoury chant from earlier in the season.

Morata was brilliant from start to finish, scoring his opening goal after only 83 seconds and mantaining his levels so he could poach numbers two and three towards the end.

Though Stoke were seriously disrupted by injuries, there was no doubting the former Real Madrid star's quality, different to the way Costa bullied the same opposition in March, but just as masterful.

With Pedro also on the score sheet, Chelsea were able to comfortably keep their 100 per cent away record and show this season's title race might not be a two-horse affair between the Manchester clubs.

A lot has been made of the strength in depth available to Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho but Chelsea's bench at the Bet365 Stadium included Gary Cahill, Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard – not to shabby.

'Alvaro did very well. He scored a hat-trick just like Michy Batshuayi did in midweek, it's very important for a striker. I am pleased about his performance but also the team as it shows they are creating chances,' said winning manager Antonio Conte.

'It's always a difficult game at Stoke. We struggled to win 2-1 last season with a late goal. The key this time was to start well and score early. Then we were in control of the game. Morata was very good. Now he has to continue this way to be a great striker.'

Stoke's line-up looked vulnerable with injuries to Kevin Wimmer, Geoff Cameron and Ryan Shawcross leaving Bruno Martins Indi as the only available centre-half, with loanee Kurt Zouma ineligible to face his parent club.

They sent out a three-man central defence with two full-backs, and two attack-minded wingers as wing-backs and the disjointed look saw them fall behind in only the second minute.

Cesar Azpilicueta pinged a long ball and Morata found acres of space between Glen Johnson and Martins Indi though his finish, one touch to control and a second low past Jack Butland, was world-class.

Chelsea's second arrived after 30 minutes courtesy of Stoke captain and their most experienced player, Darren Fletcher.

The 33-year-old midfielder attempted a chest pass to Martins Indi just outside his box but played the ball into the path of Pedro who finished brilliantly from 18 yards. Fletcher knew he'd cost his team, screaming out an expletive at the top of his voice as the ball hit the back of the net.

Stoke needed something to lift the crowd and Mame Diouf raised the volume with a spectacular overhead kick from Joe Allen's cross that flew narrowly over.

There was also drama at the start of the second half when Marcos Alonso received a bang on the face from Diouf and vented his frustration by kicking Allen to receive a yellow. He then caught Diouf leaving Stoke fans to bay for a red card.

Alonso was removed by Conte after 59 minutes, Hughes considering it evidence that Chelsea knew he'd been lucky to escape a dismissal.

'He should have been sent off,' said the Stoke manager, who was irritable through the game and warned by the fourth official to calm down at one stage.

The Italian denied that was the motivation for replacing his left wing-back. 'Honestly, it was a tactical substitution. I could see they were preparing to bring on Peter Crouch.

'You know very well we always suffer with him and for this reason I preferred to reinforce our defensive line with Gary Cahill and to move Azpi to wing-back.'

Cahill duly came on for Chelsea with Crouch arriving two minutes later and promptly winning a knockdown that Diouf fired over, but Morata had the last laugh to underline why Chelsea spent a record £60million transfer fee on him last summer.

After 77 minutes, he capitalised on a intercepted pass from Johnson to accelerate away from the defender and past the struggling Fletcher. The move was completed by a lovely dinked finish over Butland.

The hat-trick goal arrived five minutes later. Fabregas pinged a quarteback pass to Azpilicueta who managed a chested pass into Morata's path without breaking stride.

Chelsea's No9 tapped in one of the easier goals of his career and Hughes said: 'He is a top quality striker, clearly. For that money you would expect that and if you look at the chance conversions, Chelsea had seven shots on target and he scored three. We had 13 and didn't score any. You can't win Premier League games if you make catastrophic errors and we made at least three.

'We were still very much in the game at 2-0 but then Bruno went off because he'd done his groin. Once we were down to no centre-backs, they were able to embellish the scoreline.'

As the hero Morata was engulfed by team-mates, the travelling Blue army broke into song. There must have been temporary alarm in the directors' box given that an earlier ditty for Morata contained some unacceptable anti-semitic content.

The fans had heeded the stern warnings not to repeat that tune and instead sang about their new hero being better than Harry Kane - and possibly Costa, too.


Stoke City (3-4-3): Butland 6; Johnson 5, Martins Indi 6.5 (Afellay 76, 6), Pieters 6; Diouf 7, Fletcher 4.5, Allen 6, Ramadan 5.5; Shaqiri 6.5, Choupo-Moting 6, Jese 5.5 (Crouch 61, 6.5)

Unused subs: Grant, Tymon, Souttar, Adam, Berahino

Bookings: Shaqiri 47, Crouch 89

Manager: Mark Hughes

Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois 6.5; Azpilicueta 8, Christensen 6.5, Rudiger 7; Moses 6.5, Kante 6.5, Bakayoko 7, Alonso 6.5 (Cahill 58, 6); Willian 7 (Hazard 73, 6), Morata 9, Pedro 7.5 (Fabregas 68, 7)

Unused subs: Caballero, Zappacosta, Musonda, Batshuayi

Goals: Morata 2, 77, 82, Pedro 30

Bookings: Alonso 50, Kante 56

Manager: Antonio Conte


Referee: Mike Dean 7

Attendance: 29,661

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Telegraph:

Stoke City 0 Chelsea 4: Diego Costa consigned to history as Alvaro Morata bags hat-trick

John Percy

“He comes from sunny Spain, he’s better than Harry Kane”, was the new chant from Chelsea’s supporters.

There was the proof, if it was needed, that Diego Costa has finally been consigned to history and Chelsea’s future appears brighter with Alvaro Morata.

While Costa’s sale to Atletico Madrid will ease the worry lines on Antonio Conte’s forehead, any fears over the wisdom of that £57m deal will disappear with Morata in this form.

The summer signing claimed a hat-trick, with the three goals all scored with his feet, to complete a comfortable afternoon for the Premier League champions as they prepare for a potentially pivotal week.

Stoke’s depleted defence were punished in a ruthless performance with Morata at the forefront with a classic centre-forward’s performance, his second goal in particular a sublime individual effort.

There was even a more tasteful new song from the travelling Chelsea fans to serenade their new hero, a fortnight after the controversial chant at Leicester which was condemned by the club. Morata now has six league goals since that move from Real Madrid.

He will create fewer unwanted headlines, and lacks the bull-headed aggression of his predecessor, but the 24-year-old’s success in front of goal is likely to define Conte’s title defence.

September 23rd 2017 AD (After Diego) feels like a big moment in Conte’s Chelsea reign.

“I was pleased with the new chant from our supporters and I thank them for that. I was also pleased with Alvaro’s performance and scoring a hat-trick is very important for a striker,” said the Chelsea manager.

“Now he has to continue in this way to be a top striker. It is not easy to win away at Stoke as this game is always difficult but we created many chances to improve the final result.

"I think we have to be focused at what we do and not others. We want to fight in every competition we are playing."

The chaotic opening day defeat against Burnley must feel like a long time ago for Conte now, with Chelsea rediscovering the verve and vigour from last season.

This week promises to be a crucial moment in their campaign, with  Wednesday’s  rematch with old enemies Atletico Madrid in the Champions League before their encounter with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City next weekend.

Games at the Potteries can often be strewn with danger for the big clubs but Conte cannot have envisaged such a stress-free afternoon. He even had the luxury of starting with Eden Hazard, Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas on the bench.

There were mitigating circumstances for Stoke, in fairness, who have suffered an untimely and almighty defensive crisis. Ryan Shawcross, Kevin Wimmer and Geoff Cameron were all injured, while on-loan defender Kurt Zouma was ineligible against his parent club.

Towards the end, shortly before Chelsea’s third goal, Bruno Martins Indi joined the lengthy list after limping off with a groin problem.

Indeed, Stoke are so short of options that the ‘Jaws’ theme music could have been played every time the ball was punted into their half.

And Hughes’ fears were realised after just 80 seconds when Chelsea took the lead with a brutally simple goal.

Cesar Azpilicueta’s lofted pass completely bypassed Stoke’s three-man defence to send Morata clear and his finish under Jack Butland was clinical. It was Morata’s first non-headed goal for Chelsea.

Stoke have beaten Arsenal and drawn with Manchester United at the bet365 Stadium already this season but any hopes of another notable result were destroyed on the half-hour.

This time it was a mistake from captain Darren Fletcher, his attempted chest-down to Martins Indi going completely awry, and Pedro scampered clear to drive a fine shot across Butland. “That’s why we’re champions,” chanted Chelsea’s travelling support.

Stoke did respond and created their best chance of the first half when Mame Diouf sent an acrobatic overhead kick wide after a sustained period of pressure two minutes before the break.

And their frustration only increased when referee Mike Dean, already unpopular in these parts, booked Marcos Alonso for a swipe at Joe Allen and then failed to dismiss the Chelsea defender 60 seconds later for a foul on Diouf.

It was Alonso’s last contribution of the afternoon, with Conte sensibly taking him off to spare him from what was looking an inevitable red card. Conte claimed afterwards the substitution was made to combat the incoming introduction of Peter Crouch, but it felt like shrewd management to prevent Chelsea from being reduced to ten men.

The entrance of Crouch on the hour told you everything about Stoke’s gameplan and it nearly paid off for the home team.

Crouch was immediately involved, his knockdown from Glen Johnson’s pass presenting Diouf with a chance at the far post but he sliced his shot wide. Fletcher then somehow contrived to miss a simple chance from a few yards out.

That wasted opportunity sparked Chelsea back into life and they eased to the three points when Morata produced a brilliant third goal 13 minutes from time, running from the halfway line down the left flank to advance the area and lift the ball over Butland.

The goal which claimed the hat-trick was far more primitive, poking the ball in from two yards out after Azpilicueta unselfishly chested the ball into his path.

It was a chastening afternoon for Stoke, the bet365 Stadium virtually empty by the final whistle.

Hughes said: “When you spend nearly £60m on a striker you can expect that level of expertise.

“He’s obviously a top quality striker but we contributed to our own downfall. Chelsea had seven shots and he scored three of them. You can’t win games if you make catastrophic errors and we made three of them.

"They will be delighted with a 4-0 scoreline. It has flattered them somewhat.”

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Independent:

Alvaro Morata helps banish memories of Diego Costa as hat-trick fires champions Chelsea past Stoke

Stoke 0 Chelsea 4: The Spaniard scored his first Blues goals with his feet while Pedro added another as Antonio Conte's men thrashed the Potters

Tim Rich

This was supposed to have been the afternoon when Chelsea would regret having fallen out with Diego Costa.

Mark Hughes may like to argue that his club have lost their rough edges but Stoke away is a test of character, of fight and of a will to win. It was a contest Diego would have relished. Instead, Chelsea’s attack was led by a forward, who in the words of his manager, Antonio Conte, is the kind of man you would like your daughter to marry.

Dear, sweet Alvaro Morata, the boy who would turn up on your doorstep with a bunch of flowers, hit a hat-trick and Stoke were routed in their own stadium in a way they have rarely been. After completing his hat-trick, by putting away an assist from Cesar Azpilicueta for the fourth time in his embryonic Chelsea career, he had two more chances to score. He might have had five.

Stoke contributed plenty to their own demise. When they are talked about it is always with the air that a trip to the Potteries carries with it encounters with dragons and trolls. However, when Stoke defend as abysmally as they did here, they are an all-inclusive holiday with transfers from the airport.

With Kurt Zouma ineligible to play against his parent club and Ryan Shawcross injured, Stoke had a threadbare look about them and were punished accordingly.

For Chelsea it was a match played largely in the angular shadow of Atletico Madrid’s new stadium, the Metropolitano, where they will play in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill all began on the bench, although all came on – Cahill because Marcos Alonso was in real danger of getting himself sent off.

All the pre-match debate as to whether these had been sensible risks was washed away in the first 80 seconds. It was time enough for Tiemoue Bakayoko to bring the ball out of defence and for Azpilicueta to launch it long. Like Conte, Hughes had employed three centre-halves but only one, Bruno Martins Indi, was a specialist in the position. The Dutchman failed entirely to read the danger as Morata glided through and brought the ball under control with his first touch and slipped it past Jack Butland with his second.

Having been beaten at Newcastle and in midweek by Bristol City in the League Cup, Stoke needed to haul their way back into this match. They did so in terms of possession but much of their play ran down the right, where Mame Diouf’s crosses were frequently not equal to the task. When the roles were reversed and Joe Allen put the ball into the area, Diouf answered with an overhead kick that scudded wide. For all Stoke’s possession and their considerable firepower, that was as close as they were to come from open play in the first half.

By then, they were already two down. Again, Stoke had committed a basic defensive error, again another of Chelsea’s Spanish forwards had found themselves clear on goal and again they had not missed.

The error came from Darren Fletcher, perhaps the most reliable player in Hughes’s line-up, who in trying to chest down Erik Pieters’s wayward header simply played it into the path of Pedro Rodriguez. His shot blazed past Butland. A one-time Real Madrid player had scored the first, a former Barcelona forward has struck the second and now thoughts could start to drift towards Atletico.

Hughes responded by bringing off Jese for Peter Crouch. You could be snobbish and say this was new Stoke going back to old Stoke but the fact remained that they looked far more dangerous when pumping up the ball to the big man.

There was nothing anyone could do about Morata’s second that began with a run just inside the Stoke half. Fletcher was in weary pursuit for much of it but the finish, from a tight angle, was utterly exquisite. There were 3,000 supporters from Chelsea and, on the basis of that goal alone, most of them would have wanted their daughter to marry the boy from Madrid.

Stoke City (5-3-2): Butland; Diouf, Martins Indi (Affelay 77), Pieters; Fletcher, Allen; Ramadan, Shaqiri, Choupo-Moting, Jese (Crouch 61). Substitutes: Grant (g), Berahino, Tymon, Adam, Souttar.

Chelsea: (3-4-3) Courtois; Christensen, Rudiger, Azpilicueta; Alonso (Cahill 59), Bakayoko, Kante, Moses; Pedro (Fabregas 68), Morata, Willian (Hazard 72). Substitutes: Caballero (g), Musonda, Zappacosta, Batshuayi.

Referee: Mike Dean

Attendance: 29,661


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Observer:

Álvaro Morata strikes treble for Chelsea in crushing defeat of Stoke

Stoke 0 - 4 Chelsea

Stuart James

Antonio Conte was his usual animated self on the touchline, pacing up and down and waving his arms around, yet this was one of those afternoons when the Chelsea manager could have put his feet up, sat back and enjoyed the show as the outstanding Álvaro Morata took centre stage with a superb hat-trick.

Chelsea’s record signing took his tally to an impressive seven goals in seven games in the process and it felt fitting that he should deliver such an outstanding performance at the end of a week when the Premier League champions finally said goodbye to Diego Costa. Diego who?

Few at Chelsea will be pining for Costa’s rampaging presence up front if Morata continues to play with this sort of finesse while also displaying such composure in front of goal. Chelsea’s supporters have already fallen in love with the man Conte described 24 hours earlier as the type of person a father would be happy for his daughter to marry.

Morata’s name was once again ringing out from the away end in the second half, just as it had at Leicester a couple of weeks ago, only this time the words were far more palatable, suggesting that the striker is better than Harry Kane rather than a crude reference to “Yids”.

Time will tell whether Morata can score as prolifically as Kane in the Premier League but on what we have seen so far the 24-year-old will give the England international a run for his money when it comes to the golden boot. Morata’s second here was particularly special and he could easily have ended up with four or five.

Pedro scored the other goal in a comfortable Chelsea victory that provided good preparation for a crucial week with Conte’s players travelling to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday and take on Manchester City at Stamford Bridge three days later.

It is a safe bet that neither Atlético nor City will be as obliging opponents as Stoke, who contributed to their own downfall by making what Mark Hughes described as “catastrophic errors”. With two central defenders injured, and Kurt Zouma ineligible to play against his parent club, Hughes was entitled to point to mitigating circumstances, but that was still no excuse for the way Stoke gifted Chelsea their first two goals.

Morata scored the first, with 81 seconds on the clock, and that set the tone. Hughes felt aggrieved that Marcos Alonso escaped with a talking to from Mike Dean, the referee, rather than a second yellow card early in the second half and also suggested that the scoreline flattered Chelsea. That may have been so to an extent, yet there was still no escaping the gulf in class, epitomised by Morata’s display up front.

“Álvaro performed very well,” Conte said. “He scored a hat-trick and for a striker that is very important. Don’t forget the last game against Nottingham Forest the same happened with [Michy] Batshuayi. It means that we create the chances for our strikers to take. I am pleased with his performance and I’m pleased with the performance of the team.”

Conte, rather dubiously, claimed that it was a tactical decision to take Alonso off shortly after the Stoke supporters bayed for the left wing-back to be dismissed following a foul on Mame Diouf. Either way, it was a wise call and prevented Alonso from running the risk of becoming the fourth Chelsea player to be sent off in six league games this season.

By that stage Chelsea were two goals to the good. Morata’s first came about after Bruno Martins Indi, who limped off with a groin strain in the second half to add to Stoke’s defensive woes, was caught ball-watching. Running on to César Azpilicueta’s floated pass, Morata took a touch before prodding coolly past Jack Butland.

Pedro then doubled Chelsea’s lead when he pounced on Darren Fletcher’s mistake and struck a beautifully placed shot from the edge of the area across Butland and into the far corner.

Although Fletcher should have pulled a goal back after the restart with a free header from Xherdan Shaqiri’s free-kick, there was always a sense that Chelsea had another gear. They found it when Tiémoué Bakayoko charged down Glen Johnson’s clearance and Morata scampered clear on the left. Leaving Fletcher in his wake, Morata showed wonderful composure as he delightfully lifted the ball into the corner with the angle against him.

A tap-in from another Azpilicueta assist completed the rout and Morata’s hat-trick. “He’s a top-quality striker, clearly,” said Hughes.


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Express:

Stoke 0 - Chelsea 4: Alvaro Morata hat-trick helps Blues forget bad boy Diego Costa

PERHAPS it only took two days for Alvaro Morata to show there is life after Diego Costa.

Perhaps it only took 83 seconds.

Either way, Chelsea did not miss their temperamental talisman, target man and top scorer. On Thursday, they agreed to sell Costa to Atletico Madrid. Today, his successor scored a hat-trick as they secured a win made in Spain.

Pedro got the second goal. Morata got the other three, including a second-minute opener. If he is feeling the pressure of replacing Costa, the cult hero who inspired Chelsea to two league titles, he did not show it. He was too slick and too quick for Stoke. Costa would go to war against defenders. Morata simply sprinted past them.

But, much like Costa, he is scoring when and where it matters. Arsenal had lost in Stoke. Manchester United had dropped points. Chelsea ran riot.

They scored from their first four shots on target. Morata almost got four goals himself. Glen Johnson cleared his late shot off the line. But this was why Chelsea spent a club-record fee on him. This was why he played for Real Madrid and Juventus. “Alvaro performed very well,” said boss Antonio Conte. “He scored a hat-trick and for a striker that’s very important.”

“He’s top quality,” said Stoke boss Mark Hughes. If it was a test if his makeshift defence could stop a £60 million striker, the answer came straight away. They couldn’t. Hughes was without four injured and ineligible centre-backs. The men he selected instead simply stood and watched as Cesar Azpilicueta’s chipped pass was met by Morata.

He slipped a shot past Jack Butland. He beat the goalkeeper again after the one remaining centre-back, Bruno Martins Indi, went off injured. “Once we were down to no centre-backs, they were able to put a little bit of gloss,” added Hughes. Morata then surged clear to score. Then he got a tap-in when Azpilicueta chested the ball to him. The sold Costa had Cesc Fabregas as his personal supply line. Morata keeps being set up by another Spaniard. Defender Azpilicueta has four assists for his six goals.

In contrast, Stoke’s new-look defence were hardly helped by their most experienced midfielder. Stand-in skipper Darren Fletcher led by the wrong sort of example when he tried to chest the ball to Martins Indi, picked out Pedro instead and the winger struck.

“You can’t win Premier League games if you make catastrophic errors and we made at least three,” added Hughes. Stoke also lacked Morata’s accuracy. While Mame Biram Diouf almost scored in spectacular style with an overhead kick, they did not have a shot on target until the 60th minute.

Chelsea’s only alarm came when Marcos Alonso, already booked, fouled Diouf and risked getting their sixth red card in 10 games. “He should have been sent off,” said Hughes. So Conte showed his common sense. He removed Alonso and brought on Gary Cahill. He could afford to start without the captain and Hazard. He needed neither. He certainly did not need Costa. That was the Morata effect.


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Mirror:

Stoke 0-4 Chelsea: Alvaro Morata hits hat-trick to fire Antonio Conte's men to victory

The Spaniard hit a treble in the same week Diego Costa left the club

BY MIKE WALTERS

Chelsea continued to show there is life after Diego Costa with another Premier League victory at Stoke, with Alvaro Morata scoring a hat-trick.

Morata, the club-record signing bought to replace Costa, was on the scoresheet again early on before Pedro extended the lead on the half-hour mark.

The game was just over a minute old when Cesar Azpilicueta's long ball forward dissected Stoke's makeshift back line and allowed the lethal Morata to take a touch and finish calmly past Jack Butland.

Chelsea's second goal arrived after 30 minutes and it came from another mistake. Darren Fletcher attempted to chest the ball down to Martins Indi but got the weight wrong, allowing Pedro through on goal to score with a lovely finish from the edge of the penalty area.

Late on, Morata accelerated past Johnson and Fletcher before clipping the ball beyond Butland.

He completed his hat-trick in the 82nd minute when Azpilicueta and Cesc Fabregas combined to lay on a tap-in and seal a fourth win in five Premier League matches for Conte's team.

1. Happy anniversary, Antonio

It was 12 months ago this weekend that Chelsea, 3-0 down against Arsenal at half-time, abandoned a flat back four and manager Antonio Conte resorted to his preferred system of three central defenders plus two wing-backs.

Since then, they have taken a frightening 96 points from 38 Premier League games despite waving their long-serving captain off into the sunset and flogging their fugitive top scorer back to Atletico Madrid.

Conte is about to discover, over the relentless pre-Christmas schedule including a return to Champions League orbit, whether his squad can sustain those high standards.

But seldom, if ever, has there been a such a conspicuous turning point in the fortunes of a club who went on to win the title as Conte's brave call at the Emirates last year.

2. Gone in 81 seconds

Hat-trick hero Alvaro Morata took just 81 seconds to consign Diego Costa's Chelsea career to the past tense.

Diego Who?

Last season's top scorer finally completed his stand-off with the champions by sealing his return to Atletico Madrid in midweek after one of the longest strikes since former miners' leader Arthur Scargill was calling the shots in industrial relations.

But when Bruno Martins Indi was caught ball-watching from Cesar Azpilicueta's speculative long ball, and £70m record signing Morata tucked away his fourth goal of the season expertly, none of Chelsea's 3,222 travelling missionaries in the Potteries were missing Costa one jot.

Morata's second goal to make it 3-0, a superb surge beyond Darren Fletcher and dinked finish over Jack Butland, was pretty tasty, too, and he only needed the faintest of prods from point-blank range to claim the match ball.

There few wish-you-were-here messages for Costa from Stokies, either. Among the many opponents Costa riled with his gift for starting rows in empty rooms was Ryan Shawcross – who missed out through injury here – with an unsubtle hint that the Potters captain suffered from a lack of personal hygiene two years ago.

3. Stoke get the Blues again

Stoke have lost more games against Chelsea than any other side since their return to the Premier League in 2007.

Despite Charlie Adam's monster 60-yard goal at Stamford Bridge two years ago, and the Potters giving Jose Mourinho a hefty shove towards the exit six months later, Stoke's 10-year record against the Blues – played 22, lost 16, drawn three, won three - reads like a threatening letter.

And it isn't going to improve in a hurry if they defend as charitably as Darren Fletcher, whose mistake let Pedro in to fire Chelsea 2-0 up with less than half an hour on the clock here.

4. Dane and dusted

Andreas Christensen made his Premier League debut in a small, compact stadium called Wembley last month, when Chelsea emerged from the swag in a torrid 2-1 win against Tottenham.

Amid the excitement of the Blues unleashing a crop of exciting youngsters from the bench in the Carbao Cup romp against Nottingham Forest in midweek – Jake Salter-Clarke, Dujon Sterling and Ethan Ampadu joining Charly Musonda junior, who started – Christensen has almost slipped under the radar.

Upright, comfortable on the ball and strong in the air, Christensen comes from Denmark but is technically home-grown at Stamford Bridge because he joined Chelsea as a teenager and completed his youth team service in the Blues' academy.

Christensen, 21, stood tall when Stoke peppered the Blues' box with a stream of crosses as they rallied briefly after the interval.


5. Dean and dusted

When Chelsea wing-back Marcos Alonso, who had been booked only two minutes earlier, clattered into Mame Diouf and was spared a second yellow card by referee Mike Dean, the bet365 stadium was in uproar.

“He plays for Stoke, you send him off”, bellowed the Boothen end, and they may have had a point.

If Stoke, who were 2-0 down at the time, had been half an hour against 10 men to retrieve the deficit, you never know what might have happened next.

One bugbear for fans whose natural habitat is outside the Premier League's top six is a perceived big-club favouritism. Dean's lenient interpretation of Alonso's indiscretion only adds weight to that suspicion.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte certainly thought Alonso was treading a fine line, hauling him off to be replaced by England defender Gary Cahill after 58 minutes

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Star:

Stoke 0 Chelsea 4: Alvaro Morata scores first club hat-trick as Blues run riot

CHELSEA might have lost the master of the dark arts in Diego Costa – but in Alvaro Morata there is plenty of light at the end of the tunnel.

By Paul Hetherington

Stoke boss Mark Hughes made it clear he thinks his former club are poorer for last Friday’s £67million sale of Costa to Atletico Madrid.

It was Sparky who referred to those “dark arts” when discussing Costa’s eventual return to Atletico after falling out with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte last season.

But Costa’s replacement – Morata – has hit the ground running at the Premier League champions.

In fact, the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker has never been in such good form at the start of a season.It took the £60m signing from Real only 83 seconds to give Chelsea the lead yesterday.

With Gary Cahill on the bench at the start ahead of this week’s Champions League game against Atletico, Cesar Azpilicueta took the captain’s armband.

And it was his early, long ball which caught out a depleted Stoke back line, with Ryan Shawcross, Kurt Zouma, Kevin Wimmer and Geoff Cameron unavailable.

Morata raced on to Azpilicueta’s pass and calmly steered a right-foot finish wide of Stoke keeper Jack Butland and in to the far corner of the net.

It was Morata’s fourth goal of the season – the previous three all being with his head.

And he went on to score his first hat-trick in England.

In the 78th minute he raced almost half the length of the pitch before producing a neat finish.

And four minutes later Morata turned the ball over the line after Azpilicueta had chested Cesc Fabregas’s pass into his path.

Stoke knew that their unbeaten home record this season, which included a win against Arsenal and draw with Manchester United, was going to be under serious threat from that first Morata goal.

And they had only themselves to blame when Chelsea increased their lead on the half hour.

Skipper Darren Fletcher casually chested the ball back towards his own goal – but only in to the path of the alert Pedro who gratefully hammered a right-foot drive in to the corner of the net, beating the diving Butland.

Stoke needed an inspirational moment to get back in to the match and it almost arrived two minutes before half-time.

But Mame Biram Diouf’s fine overhead effort from Joe Allen’s excellent cross was off target.

Stoke did not have a shot on target until the hour mark, when the lively Xherdan Shaqiri produced a left-foot effort which Thibaut Courtois comfortably held.

But the second half was more uncomfortable for the champions.

Peter Crouch caused problems when he came on as substitute for the anonymous Jese.

The former England target man set up a chance when he won the ball in the air but Diouf – under pressure from Antonio Rudiger – could not keep his shot down.

And with Marcos Alonso walking a disciplinary tightrope after being yellow-carded, Conte sensibly replaced him with Cahill.

Fletcher’s uncharacteristically poor afternoon also saw him fail to convert a chance with his head.

The former Manchester United midfielder miscued and the ball ended up bouncing off his foot and trickling wide.

That was six minutes before the highly-impressive Morata wrapped it up for Chelsea with his second and third goals.

And three minutes from time Glen Johnson cleared off the line to prevent a fourth goal for the Spanish striker.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes said: “We contributed to our own downfall. That’s the story of the game from our point of view.

“If you make catastrophic defensive mistakes against a side like Chelsea, then they are going to punish you.

“But there were extenuating circumstances given the shortage of personnel we had at the back and to make matters worse, we then lose Bruno Martins-Indi with a groin injury.

“But in my view, Alonso should have been sent off and it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if we had been playing against ten men.

“Clearly, their manager thought so, too, because he took off Alonso.”


Stoke: Butland 6; Johnson 5, Martins Indi 6 (Afellay (76th) Pieters 5; Diouf 6, Fletcher 5, Allen 7, Sobhi 5; Shaqiri 7, Jese 5 (Crouch (62nd) 6) Choupo-Moting 5

Chelsea: Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 8, Christensen 7, Rudiger 8; Moses 6, Kante 7, Bakayoko 6, Alonso 6 (Cahill (58th) 6); Willian 6 (Hazard (72nd) 6), Morata 9, Pedro 7 (Fabregas (68th) 6)


STAR MAN: Alvaro Morata

Ref: M Dean

Stoke’s next game: Southampton (H), Sept 30

Chelsea’s next game: Atletico Madrid (A), Sept 27

STAT ATTACK: Stoke boss Mark Hughes has faced Chelsea 24 times as a Premier League boss and the former Man United and Chelsea striker has lost 16 times, more than against any other team.


==================================

Sun:

MOR HEROICS Stoke 0 Chelsea 4

Alvaro Morata scores a sublime hat-trick as Antonio Conte’s Blues stroll to comfortable win at bet365 Stadium


Pedro also scored as fears surround Thibaut Courtois, who appeared to play on despite possibly being knocked out

By Charlie Wyett and Dave Fraser

ALVARO MORATA took just 81 seconds to make his mark – and then completed his first hat-trick in English football in a dazzling display of expert finishing.

Not a bad start for a bloke looking to prove himself after Diego Costa finally headed into the sunset and rejoined Atletico Madrid.


Chelsea, who made a number of changes ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Atletico, looks solid enough without getting out of third gear and Morata was the star man.

On the back of Costa finally leaving, Antonio Conte will have been delighted his replacement scored so early and then went on the rampage.

In only the second minute, Cesar Azpilicueta punted the ball long, Bruno Martins Indi appeared to be stuck in quicksand and Morata moved the ball inside the area with one touch before steering it past an exposed Jack Butland.

It was a decent finish and after three headers, this one was with his right boot.

Pedro’s second strike was even better and it was helped by a string of errors with Darren Fletcher the main culprit.

Erik Pieters delivered a weak header into the air, Fletcher chested the ball into the direction of Morata and Martins Indi was once again pedestrian.

Pedro took one touch before delivering a powerful shot across Butland for his first Premier League strike of the season

In the second half, Stoke fans demanded the dismissal of Marcos Alonso after he fouled Mame Biram Diouf having already been on a yellow card.

As a precaution, with the home fans screaming for blood, Alonso was substituted for Gary Cahill.

Meanwhile there was a scary moment as Thibaut Courtois appeared to be knocked out cold contesting a cross... only to play on for the rest of the game.

Fletcher’s bad day continued when he missed an easy chance with Diouf somehow sending the follow-up into the side-netting.

Glen Johnson and Fletcher were then outpaced badly by Morata who charged into the area before delivering a fine finish for 3-0.

With eight minutes left, Morata completed his hat-trick when Azpilicueta chested the ball into his path.


WHAT THEY SAID

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte told BBC: "It was a good day, a good result for us. Stoke are a really good team and very strong.

"It was very difficult to win here but we deserved to win the game. We started well and scored early and were in control of the game. I repeat, it's not simple to win away against them."

Stoke boss Mark Hughes said: "They will be delighted with a 4-0 score. It has flattered them somewhat.

"We made too many mistakes against a team who can exploit that. Defensive errors took it away from us.