Stoke 2-3

Independent:

It is not just Manchester United who are suffering in this gloriously unpredictable Premier League campaign. In a week of buried hoodoos at Old Trafford, Stoke City ended their own 38-year wait for a League victory over Chelsea thanks to a spectacular last-minute goal by the substitute Oussama Assaidi.
The Moroccan winger, on loan from Liverpool, had not scored a Premier League goal before yesterday but came off the bench to earn Stoke an unlikely victory as he stepped in from the left and curled a wonderful shot past Petr Cech and into the far corner. It was a goal that brought the roof off the Britannia, and will have been celebrated at Anfield too, given that Chelsea’s defeat means they slip below Liverpool into third place.
“I said he had to be ready if called on to make an impact, but I hadn’t anticipated such an impact,” said the Stoke manager, Mark Hughes.
It was an outcome that had appeared impossible during an opening half-hour dominated by the visitors, yet with just Andre Schürrle’s ninth-minute goal to show for their dominance, an exasperated Jose Mourinho suggested afterwards that he could already see it coming. After half an hour we should be winning three- or four-nil, and we weren’t,” the Chelsea manager said. “You have to kill the game.
“I can compare the first half with the first half at Everton and Newcastle,” he added, likening it to those two earlier losses. “Exactly the same – chances, chances, chances. We are not a physical team, we are not a team with the conditions to defend against physical teams. We have to score when we have the game in our hands.”
He is right about Chelsea needing to score. They have conceded more goals in 15 League games this season – 17 – than they did in the whole of Mourinho’s triumphant first season at Stamford Bridge in 2004-05. And to leak three against Stoke, who had scored just five in seven previous home League games under Hughes, underlines their vulnerability.
None of that seemed a concern when Schürrle took a pass from Jon Obi Mikel and turned Ryan Shawcross one way then the other before unleashing a low, angled shot past Asmir Begovic. Yet for all of Chelsea’s control that killer touch was missing. Ramires shot over twice, while the ineffectual Fernando Torres – later replaced by the almost as ineffectual Demba Ba – failed to reach Juan Mata’s ball across the six-yard box.
Three minutes before the break, Stoke were level. When Marko Arnautovic swung over a corner, Cech came off his line but failed to get anywhere near the ball. It dropped to Peter Crouch, who shot through Cech’s legs, past Ramires and into the net.
Hughes, celebrating his first notable victory as Stoke manager against his former club, said. “Chelsea gave us a bit of a run-around in the first half and we had to hang on in there. In the second half I thought we were excellent, and the two goals we scored were outstanding.”
The first of those arrived five minutes after the restart as Jonathan Walters shrugged off Cesar Azpilicueta on the right and fed Stephen Ireland, a substitute for the injured Charlie Adam, who bent a lovely shot in off the far post.
Chelsea responded quickly as Schürrle pounced on a half-cleared free-kick, sending a fierce drive beyond Begovic. The German might have had a hat-trick – he struck the crossbar before a calf injury forced him off – but instead the late twist came at the other end.

Line-ups:

Stoke City (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Cameron, Wilson, Shawcross, Muniesa; N’Zonzi, Whelan; Walters (Assaidi, 84), Adam (Ireland, 18), Arnautovic; Crouch.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Mikel (Lampard, 70); Schürrle (Eto’o, 70), Mata, Hazrd; Torres (Ba, 60).
Referee: Jonathan Moss.
Man of the match: Wilson (Stoke)
Match rating: 8/10

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Observer:
Stoke City's Oussama Assaidi nets dramatic late winner against Chelsea

This was José Mourinho's first experience of managing at this venue and it is one he will not look back on with even a hint of fondness. Standing inside his technical area as Stoke's supporters wildly celebrated a late winner that was as stunning as it was unexpected, the Portuguese's mood became as black as his coat. He scowled in silence, with the words that eventually followed only adding to the sense that this had been a dark day for Chelsea's Special One.
Mourinho spoke with a mix of fury and frustration as he reflected on how his side had failed to record a fourth league win in succession having taken the lead through André Schürrle's neatly taken 10th-minute strike. They subsequently dominated possession and territory, with their attacking trio of Schürrle, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard causing havoc for the hosts with their clever movement behind lone striker Fernando Torres, but, as Mourinho said, failed to "kill the game".
Stoke took advantage by equalising near the end of the first half through Peter Crouch, scored again soon after the break through Stephen Ireland and then, after Schürrle had got a second for the visitors, secured the fifth and final goal of this pulsating contest though Oussama Assaidi's 90th-minute thunderbolt.
"After half an hour we should have been winning three or four," Mourinho said. "We were playing so well, it was easy, and normally you kill the game, but we didn't. I can compare this game to the Everton and Newcastle ones [Chelsea's other league defeats this season] – chances, chances, chances and we don't score. On top of that we made defensive mistakes. That is why we lost."
Stoke deserved tremendous credit for how they turned a seemingly certain defeat into their second league victory since 31 August. The hosts could not cope with Chelsea in the early stages and it came as little surprise when Schürrle, having collected Mikel John Obi's pass, hit a low edge-of-the-area drive past Asmir Begovic following some poor defending by Ryan Shawcross.
Mark Hughes, the Stoke manager, could soon be seen ordering his players to make more of an effort in closing down their tormentors in blue but, as the first half went on, the hosts showed little sign of getting back into the match. Cue much surprise, then, when Crouch pounced on 42 minutes, converting Marko Arnautovic's corner with a scrappy strike from an unmarked position in the centre of Chelsea's area.
It was a careless way for the visitors to concede and clearly galvanised the hosts, who dominated the early stages of the second half and were rewarded for their efforts when Ireland, on as a first-half substitute after Charlie Adam had to go off injured, scored with a curling drive from just outside the area. The home fans broke out in raucous song but they were to be silenced shortly after when Schürrle struck again, drilling a long-range drive past Begovic after Crouch had inadvertently cleared Mata's free-kick into the path of the 23-year-old in what was undeniably his most effective display for Chelsea since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.
From there the match became increasingly stretched and, as Chelsea lost further control, Steven Nzonzi became a more effective presence in the centre of Stoke's midfield. It was from his cross that Ireland wasted a golden chance to make it 3-2 and at the other end, Schürrle rattled the bar with a curling drive before being taken off with a calf injury.
It was frantic stuff and there was to be a breathtaking conclusion when substitute Assaidi cut across the Chelsea area and hit a right-foot drive that flew into the far corner. It was some moment for the Moroccan, who is on a season-long loan from Liverpool, and understandably put Hughes in upbeat mood. "This is a great result for us," the Stoke manager said. "They gave us the runaround but we stuck in there and put on a real performance. We have set our standards today and now we have to maintain that."
Mourinho, in contrast, has to lift those of his own side. They have conceded 17 league goals, two more than in the whole of the 2004-05 season, the manager's first at the club, while in attack the Londoners continue to look blunt. Torres was again ineffective while Demba Ba and Samuel Eto'o, who came on as substitutes, also made little impact. The three strikers have scored four league goals between them this season.
Asked how he can get more goals from his frontmen, Mourinho replied: "I don't know." He will need to find answers if Chelsea, who could find themselves seven points behind Arsenal, are to maintain their challenge.

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Telegraph:
Stoke City 3 Chelsea 2
By John Percy, Britannia Stadium

Oussama Assaidi was not even born the last time Stoke defeated Chelsea in the league but his sensational winner was enough to leave Jose Mourinho admitting “we are in trouble”.
Assaidi settled an absorbing encounter with a wonderful strike in the final minute as Mourinho was left to reflect on the profligacy of the forwards he has inherited and an opportunity wasted to close the gap on leaders Arsenal.
Mourinho trudged out of the Potteries with the look of a man on the brink of a mini-crisis and his response when asked how he can get his strikers to start scoring – “I don’t know” – suggested a much greater problem could be on the horizon.
Chelsea should have been out of sight by half-time but have now conceded six goals in two games and could be seven points behind Arsenal if Arsène Wenger’s team defeat Everton on Sunday.
They had appeared on course for their ninth win in the past 11 games against Stoke after Andre Schurrle’s early goal, in a first half Chelsea dominated, but the home team responded with a resilient performance that was a throwback to the gritty days of their early years in the Premier League under Tony Pulis.
And just when Stoke appeared content for a deserved point, Assaidi, signed on loan from Liverpool, cut inside to beat Petr Cech and condemn Mourinho to his third league defeat of the season. John Terry will not look back fondly on his 33rd birthday.
Mourinho was at a loss to explain what he had seen. “You don’t want me to criticise my player’s mistakes. I can’t. You can,” he said. “The problem is we didn’t score goals and we conceded goals, that was the mistake. After half an hour we should have been winning by three or four.
“We were playing so well, it was so easy and you find spaces, creating so much, you have to kill the game.
“But we are playing well. To be where we are, and you see us in relation to Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool, we are not doing badly even in term of points in the league.
“But we are not a physical team, we are not a team who can defend against physical teams. We need to score goals.”
The last time Stoke defeated them in the league was 1975 when Mud were No 1 with Oh Boy. There have been chastening defeats along the way, and Stoke might have feared another one when they fell behind after 10 minutes. An avalanche of Chelsea goals looked possible then.
It had seemed that there was nothing on as Schurrle received the ball from John Obi Mikel 30 yards out but the German international easily bypassed Ryan Shawcross, twice, before arrowing a low shot across Asmir Begovic into the bottom corner.
Schurrle’s goal, his second for Chelsea, set the tone for the half as his side took control. Eden Hazard, so inspired against Sunderland on Wednesday night, produced another menacing performance, constantly finding space as he tiptoed his way through Stoke’s midfield.
Chelsea had chances to increase their lead, with Juan Mata shooting straight at Begovic before Ramires lofted the ball over the crossbar.
“You’re going down with United” chanted the Chelsea fans, yet Mourinho clearly seemed perturbed at only being a goal ahead, frequently displaying his repertoire of extravagant gestures.
His anxiety proved well-founded. Stoke, who lost Charlie Adam through injury in the early stages, had offered little but equalised three minutes before half-time. Marko Arnautovic’s corner was not cleared and Crouch reacted quickest to turn and shoot under Petr Cech.
While that goal was scruffy, Stoke’s second was exquisite, six minutes into the second half. Jon Walters advanced down the right and sent Stephen Ireland clear. The midfielder curled a wonderful shot into the far corner.
Their lead lasted barely two minutes, however. Mata’s free-kick ricocheted off Crouch in the area and Schurrle’s half-volley gave Begovic no chance. Schurrle almost had a hat-trick, bending a shot that struck the top of the bar, before being substituted for Samuel Eto’o with an injury.
It was now a riveting game and Ireland wasted a decent chance before Frank Lampard, a substitute, failed to trouble Begovic with a free-kick.
Assaidi then produced a moment of magic to secure Mark Hughes only his second league win since August and it was no less than his side deserved.
The manager said: “It’s a great result for us and I thought it was a fantastic game but I would say that. We need a bit of credibility because we are trying to change things.
“There will be days when we are not particularly good with what we’re trying to do, but we have set our standards today and we have to maintain that.”

Team details
Stoke Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Muniesa, Nzonzi, Whelan (Palacios 86), Walters (Assaidi 84), Adam (Ireland 18), Arnautovic, Crouch. Subs: Pennant, Jones, Wilkinson, Sorensen. Booked Crouch, Walters, Assaidi, Ireland. GoalsCrouch 42, Ireland 50, Assaidi 90.

Chelsea Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Mikel (Lampard 70), Schurrle (Eto'o 70), Mata, Hazard, Torres (Ba 59). Subs Cole, Essien, De Bruyne, Schwarzer. BookedTerry. Goals Schurrle 10, 53.

Att 25,154.
Referee J Moss (W Yorkshire).

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Mail:

Stoke 3 Chelsea 2: Brilliant late Assaidi goal puts brakes on Mourinho's title charge
By Malcolm Folley

Sometimes, the most obvious issues at a football club do not need forensic examination.
At Chelsea, Jose Mourinho is having his patience stretched by the presence of three goal-shy strikers: Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o.
After all, three played against Stoke for various amounts of a game stolen from Chelsea by a 90th-minute winning goal of star quality by substitute Oussama Assaidi, Mourinho was asked: ‘How can you get your strikers to score?’ And he replied, starkly: ‘I don’t know.’
And when asked what the difference is between his successful first spell in charge of Chelsea, Mourinho added: ‘A few very important differences. 'But I have the squad I have and I have to try to get the best out of them. We are in trouble.’
Between them, Torres, Ba and Eto’o have claimed four goals in the Premier League and none of them have been scored away from home.
It is a pitiful return from players privileged to be playing in a team illuminated by the talents of Eden Hazard and Juan Mata.
‘Are the strikers good enough?’ someone else persisted, as Mourinho digested a loss that could be made more damaging should Arsenal defeat Everton this afternoon to give them a seven-point lead over Chelsea.
Mourinho tried to defend Torres, Ba and Eto’o as best as he could.
‘They are players trying to give everything to the team, they are working hard and fighting hard. I can’t criticise them.’ Or rather he will not criticise them, at least not in public.
Even so, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for Torres, Ba and Eto’o to be excused simply because they are industrious.
On Saturday, Torres, who began the game, was the only one of the trio who emerged with a semblance of credit.
Understandably, Mourinho was unamused that a third game had been lost in spite of the excellence of football Hazard, Mata and Andre Schurrle had conspired to produce to make the first half a chastening experience for Stoke.
The evidence of what happened was still available to him on instant recall. ‘It was exactly the same at Everton and Newcastle this season,’ said Mourinho.
‘I think this team is a team that has to capitalise in goals from the production of the football we are playing. After half an hour, I could see this result coming. We should have been winning three-nil, or four-nil and we weren’t.’
'We had to just hang in there and we did. From our point of view, it was a huge result. We set standards today which, if we maintain, will make us difficult to beat.
‘I know that people will say we needed a little bit of credibility, as people are suggesting we are not doing as well as we should. I’d argue that we are not a million miles away from what we want to do here.’
Undeniably, Hughes received a manful response from his players after Chelsea had taken a  10th-minute lead through Schurrle, who turned Ryan Shawcross one way, then the other, before he buried a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
The game at this point belonged to the vision and artistry and Hazard and Mata.
However, it takes only a moment’s lapse of concentration to hurt a team in the Premier League. And in the 42nd minute, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech meandered into no-man’s land at a corner to allow Peter Crouch to find the net.
Five minutes after half-time, Stoke forged ahead through substitute Stephen Ireland, who threaded the ball inside the far post. But Schurrle equalised with another fiercely driven shot from outside the area. Normal service had been restored, or so thought the Chelsea fans.
Yet to Stoke’s credit, they were unflustered and their fans were rewarded with a quite magnificent goal from long range from Assaidi.
It is not only scoring goals that is giving Mourinho a headache, it is stopping them. Chelsea have now conceded 17 goals, two more than when they won the Premier League in 2004.
‘That was a different time, a different league,’ said Mourinho. It was — a time when the goals came from Didier Drogba.

FORWARDS GO COLD BUT AT LEAST ETO'O IS PIPING
Jose Mourinho has been complaining that his strikers have been going cold. But substitute Samuel Eto’o has perhaps been taking his manager’s words too literally, for as Chelsea were shivering at Stoke, their veteran Cameroon hit man was warming up on the sidelines with that good old-fashioned British staple, the hot water bottle!
In fact, so cold was the former Barcelona raider that he needed two just to ward off the chill.

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Mirror:

Stoke 3-2 Chelsea
On-loan Oussama Assaidi nets late winner as Potters come from behind to record famous win

Oussama Assaidi’s ­celebration told you everything. The Moroccan midfielder ripped off his shirt and ran to jump into the arms of his manager Mark Hughes.
With one dramatic 90th-minute swish of his right foot, the 25-year-old had not only got his first goal in the Premier League – but had set a landmark for his boss.
Since taking over in the summer, Hughes has talked a great game about bringing in expansive football, but has failed to deliver results to back it up.
And when Chelsea were pinging the ball around in the first half yesterday, lapping up a lead provided by a brilliant early strike from Andre Schurrle, it looked like more trouble was in store.
The visiting fans were gleefully asking “Where’s your famous atmosphere?” and a subdued Britannia Stadium crowd were wondering whether they were starting to miss Tony Pulis.
Then Peter Crouch got a scruffy equaliser, Stephen Ireland gave them the lead – and though Schurrle got Chelsea level it merely set the stage for substitute Assaidi’s fantastic winner.
“He was disappointed when I left him out of the team but I told him to be ready to make an impact if he came on,” said Hughes.
“Even I didn’t anticipate he would make such an impact, but I’m delighted that he did.
“It is a big result for us. We have set our standards today and we need to maintain them if we can keep those levels.
“We are doing things differently and it takes time to understand but today the crowd were fully behind what we did.”
Throughout the Pulis years when everybody else hated facing the Potters’ ordeal by long throws and corners at the Britannia, Chelsea were the one club who never found it a problem.
In five seasons they won four times and drew once, and last year put on a dazzling exhibition with a 4-0 romp. So if there was a sign of how bad things have got for Jose Mourinho yesterday, it was that his side spent the last 15 minutes trying to find a winner by lumping long balls up to Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba.
That was meat and drink to Ryan Shawcross, and in the end Stoke could argue they deserved their first league victory over Chelsea since 1975.
It hadn’t started that way. Schurrle drifted into space after nine minutes to pick up a pass from Ramires, twist away from Shawcross and arrow a left-foot shot beyond the reach of Asmir Begovic.
And from there, Schurrle, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata produced a dazzling array of passing that pulled the home side to pieces.
The trouble was there was no end product. Ramires missed a couple of shots, Fernando Torres was consistently a couple of yards off the pace to reach chances, and suddenly just before half-time Crouch pounced.
Straight after the break Ireland, an early substitute for injured Charlie Adam, speared a left-foot shot home from the edge of the box after Jon Walters had been too strong for Cesar Azpilicueta. Schurrle’s second goal came five minutes later with a thumping volley after a free-kick bounced to him off Crouch’s knees, and the German then hit the bar.
But beyond that Chelsea never really looked like finding a winner and Stoke drew more and more ­inspiration from the strength of Shawcross and the calm handling of Begovic.
Mourinho’s team have now conceded more goals this season than they did in the whole of his first year in charge of the club.
“You have to kill the game when you are playing so well and we didn’t,” was the Chelsea manager’s brutally honest ­assessment.

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Express:

Stoke City 3 - Chelsea 2: Oussama Assaidi the assassin slays Chelsea

Even the Special One could provide no answers. His strikers cannot score goals and his defence is leaking them.
Chelsea let slip a game which should have been won after half an hour but Jose Mourinho was not surprised because he saw their weaknesses at both ends.
They let Stoke plunder a victory and the visitors’ manager not only saw it coming but was powerless to prevent it.
Chelsea’s strikers have now scored just four goals between them in the League this season – Fernando Torres and Dema Ba one each and Samuel Eto’o two.
At the other end Mourinho’s men have conceded 17 – including six in their last two away games – two more than the 15 they let in during the Portuguese boss’s first season in charge in 2004-5!
Asked how he could get his marksmen scoring regularly, the Chelsea manager shrugged his shoulders and said: “I don’t know.They’re working hard for the team. When they do that you can’t criticise them.
“As for the defence we cannot compare this team with the one I had in my first season. You cannot compare different generations and different periods.
“I cannot criticise my players’ mistakes. I can’t. You can.”
It looked like a question of how many Chelsea would score after Andre Schurrle put them ahead in the 10th minute.
Peter Cech acknowledged his error with a raised hand after he came off his line and suddenly stopped in trying to reach Marko Arnautovic’s corner. The keeper’s moment of hesitation proved crucial and Peter Crouch was able to stab the loose ball home through a crowded six-yard box.
The German twisted and turned past Ryan Shawcross before beating Asmir Begovic with a low shot.
The expected deluge though never materialised. Mourinho’s men dominated the rest of the half but showed no incisive edge.
Even so it was difficult to see Stoke finding a way back into the game until they were gifted an equaliser.
Six minutes after the restart the scoreline took on an even more unbelievable look. Stephen Ireland, who had replaced the injured Charlie Adam in the first half, picked up a pass from Jon Walters and cleverly bent the ball around Gary Cahill into the corner of the net.
The visitors complained bitterly that Walters had pushed over Cesar Azpilicueta in the build-up but their protests were waved aside by referee Jonathan Moss.
Chelsea were stung into an immediate response and when Juan Mata’s free-kick came back off Crouch’s knees, Schurrle crashed a fierce left-foot shot past Begovic.
The German’s final contribution was a stunning drive which rattled the crossbar before he was replaced by Samuel Eto’o and the Londoners’ goal threat diminished. Mourinho later revealed that Schurrle had a damaged calf.
Stoke thought they had blown their chances when Ireland lifted a good chance over the bar in the 68th minute but the final twist was yet to be delivered.
Oussama Assaidi came off the bench and onto the centre stage to score an 89th minute winner.
The Moroccan, on loan from Liverpool, cut inside from the left and powered his shot into the top corner.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes said: “The lads recovered very quickly from the disappointment of going behind. They gave us a run around in the first half but we stuck in there.”