Independent :
Chelsea 4 Stoke City 2
Diego Costa sets the tone for history-making Blues as title looks closer and closer
Twice Stoke fought from behind as Chelsea had to overcome their festive hangover, but this ws another important statement in their relentless march towards the title
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Whatever happens at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, Chelsea are in the history books. This was their 13th consecutive league win, equalling the Premier League record within one season that Arsenal set in 2001-02. If they beat Tottenham next week they will make the record their own. Immortality beckons and with it, almost certainly, this year’s Premier League title.
In the final minutes here Antonio Conte threw on Nemanja Matic, Branislav Ivanovic and Nathaniel Chalobah, all with the plan of shutting down the game. In that sense it felt like a team in April or May closing out a crucial win on the way to the title. Conte’s celebrations for the goals, even more energetic than usual, looked like those of a coach who knows that he is doing work that will never be forgotten.
While this run has been built on impeccable defence and control, this win was not. This was a raucous festive back-and-forth, in which Chelsea let Stoke City back into the game twice, at 1-1 and 2-2, before eventually tearing away from them in the second half. This is a Chelsea team that can beat the opposition in plenty of different ways, with possession, on the break, tactically or with individual quality. This time they simply out-scored them.
It was not the best day out for Chelsea’s defence, who struggled to cope with Peter Crouch and Stoke’s unique blend of Route One play and interesting inside-forwards. But after 13 straight league wins, no-one is quibbling.
It took Chelsea 30 minutes to grow into this game and Stoke were the more threatening side at the start. With Cesc Fabregas starting instead of Matic, this team does not quite have its usual power. Stoke were comfortable on the ball and dangerous when they went long. It was clear from the start that this was not going to be a routine win. Stoke do not roll over for anyone.
But it was also clear that Diego Costa is currently playing the best football of his life. He was the outstanding player on the pitch and one of the few surprises of the afternoon was that he had to wait until the 85th minute to score a goal.
From the very start he was terrorising Stoke, nearly giving Chelsea the lead when he controlled a pass from Fabregas at the far post only for Lee Grant to save his volley. Then he took a David Luiz long ball out of the sky like Dennis Bergkamp, cutting back before Grant denied him again. The following corner, though, put Chelsea ahead. Fabregas clipped the ball in and Cahill got up at the near post to score the header.
But Chelsea did not switch on at the start of the second half and Stoke punished them. Cesar Azpilicueta gave away a needless free-kick, Charlie Adam drove it in and Crouch won the header at the far post. Bruno Martins Indi got in ahead of N’Golo Kante to bundle in the ball.
That slip, the first goal they had conceded in 450 minutes, enraged Chelsea and they came straight back at Stoke. Victor Moses drove in a cross from the right to Eden Hazard, with his back to goal, who produced the touch of the day to lay the ball back Willian on the edge of the box. The Brazilian drove the ball through a sea of bodies into the roof of the net.
But Chelsea, perhaps giddy at the prospect of history, switched off again. Bojan Krkic, on as a substitute, rolled the ball out to Mame Biram Diouf on the right, whose cross was turned in by Crouch at close range.
Despite that second error, Chelsea were in no mood to let this get away from them. They turned it up again and this time Stoke simply could not live with them. The score was only 2-2 for a matter of seconds before Fabregas released Willian with a clever pass into the inside-right channel. The finish at the near post was emphatic. This time, it was very clear, Chelsea would not be throwing the lead away.
Conte made the defensive changes to ensure that Stoke could not get back into the game, and the final minutes ticked away with gleeful anticipation of the win. But there was still time for Costa, man of the match, to finally get the goal he deserved. Martins Indi is not a weak man but Costa made him look like he had wandered in from an under-13s game, fairly wrestling him to the ground and then smashing the ball into the roof of the net with his left boot.
That was Costa’s 14th goal of a remarkable season. This was Chelsea’s 13th win in a row. They have already made history and, when the season ends in six months’ time, all the prizes will surely be theirs.
Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses (Ivanovic, 82), Kante, Fabregas (Matic, 73), Alonso; Willian (Chalobah, 84), Costa, Hazard
Stoke (5-4-1): Grant; Diouf, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters; Shaqiri (Bojan, 61), Allen, Adam, Afellay (Imbula, 61); Crouch
Match rating: 8/10
Man of the Match: Diego Costa
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Observer:
Willian double sinks brave Stoke and extends Chelsea run to 13 straight wins
Dominic Fifield
This was a wholly fitting summation of the thrill that has been Antonio Conte’s first six months at Chelsea, a frenzy of a contest to see out the year with the leaders, untouchable since the end of September, savouring a 13th victory in succession. Stoke City offered far more of a test of the leaders’ credentials than plenty of others in that sequence but still ended defeated, even if there was no disgrace in that. It is more than three months since anyone found a way of checking this team. They appear unstoppable.
The next side to try will be Tottenham Hotspur, bitter rivals still smarting from the critical damage inflicted to last season’s title challenge here back in May, but they will do well to contain them.
Chelsea were pegged back twice by an impressive Stoke team, the hosts’ back-line unnerved by Peter Crouch, but the leaders’ self-confidence never wavered. They continued to sweep forward, convinced those forays would yield reward, and, eventually, buried Stoke’s intent beneath a two-goal lead.
It was Diego Costa who settled the occasion, thrashing home a wonderful 14th club goal of the term from a tight angle after turning Bruno Martins Indi five minutes from time. Only then could Conte skip down the touchline in delight in the knowledge the day was truly won.
“When you win a lot in a row, there is a great danger to be satisfied too early,” he said. “It’s not easy to show the character and reaction, above all after 12 wins in a row. After their second equaliser, we could easily be relaxed and think that, in the end, we’ve won a lot in the past so a draw, if we don’t win, is not important. But my players showed a great will to fight, a great will to win, a great will to take this great achievement for us. I’m pleased for them and they deserve this.”
This equalled the record for consecutive victories within a single season and another at White Hart Lane on Wednesday would bring Chelsea level with Arsenal for the all-time winning tally – set over two campaigns – of 14. Conte has made clear he cares little for such statistical achievements though, in the context of last season’s toils and this side’s apparent shortcomings in the autumn, the sequence already feels remarkable. It is astonishing to think they have dropped eight points by the season’s halfway point, and played in a fashion which has provoked admiration rather than envy from most onlookers. The challenge will change from now on in.
“We started this season as underdogs, underestimated,”said Conte. “But now the light is on Chelsea. We’ll have to work harder still to find, game by game, the right solution and carry on winning. It won’t be easy but, today, we are very happy.”
This had been a real test of their credentials. Stoke were awkward opponents, Crouch unsettling a back three who had only previously been breached twice in 12 matches. It was the former England striker who leapt above Gary Cahill and nodded Charlie Adam’s deep free-kick back across goal for Martins Indi to volley the visitors level 55 seconds into the second period.
The 35-year-old forward would be rewarded himself just after the hour-mark with his team’s second equaliser, side-footed in from the edge of the six-yard box from Mame Diouf’s centre after N’Golo Kanté had missed his kick with the home side’s rearguard, initially shrinking from Crouch, pulled out of position by the substitute Bojan’s dart into enemy territory.
There were other awkward moments when Chelsea threatened to conceded again. Yet, where Stoke intent could never be questioned, their defending proved more accommodating.
Mark Hughes was left to bemoan the winner – “a throw-in which bounced in our six-yard box” – and the lapse of concentration that led to parity squandered immediately on the second occasion the visitors drew level, but acknowledged the opponents were devastating on the break.
Lee Grant’s superb reactions had frustrated the home side for a while, but some of the fragility that blighted Stoke’s start to the season has crept back in of late. Too many of Chelsea’s rewards were easily achieved.
Cahill’s header from Cesc Fàbregas’ corner had forced them ahead, though it was Willian who would edge them back in front twice thereafter. Victor Moses’s flash of skill dumped Erik Pieters on the turf, the wing-back’s cross touched into the Brazilian’s path by Eden Hazard and the left-foot finish unerring.
His second came from Fàbregas’s 100th Premier League assist, a pass placed inside Pieters that Willian hammered home.
He had been Chelsea’s player of the year in last season’s toils and having initially lost his place after being granted compassionate leave following the death of his mother he is now back to his best.
“We all know the difficult period through which he passed. So I’m pleased for him,” said Conte. “He’s a really good guy and deserves this.”
This whole squad will go into the new year buoyed. Theirs is an air of invincibility at present.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea 4 Stoke City 2
Willian brace and Diego Costa strike help Premier League leaders to 13th straight win
Matt Law
Antonio Conte should be the most relaxed man in football heading into 2017 thanks to Chelsea’s winning run that kept them on course to equal a Premier League record against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.
But win number 13 against Stoke City was an emotional rollercoaster for Chelsea’s jack in the box head coach, who chastised and congratulated his players in equal measure during a stressful 90 minutes.
Conte watched his team throw away the lead twice against Stoke and was angered by the fact that, in his opinion, an offside was missed in the build-up to the visitors’ first equaliser.
A brace from Willian and goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa proved to be enough to secure a 13th successive victory that equalled the record for the number of consecutive top-flight wins in a single season and, finally, allowed Conte to celebrate wildly up the touchline.
“My emotions depend a lot upon the type of game we face and the difficulty of the game,” said Conte. “When you take the lead and then start the second half by conceding a goal, clearly offside, and it's my fault... I train every day my defenders to keep the right line before the referee whistles. My players were very good, the linesman not so much. After the second goal, it wasn't easy to get the good reaction and show the great character, above all after 12 wins in a row.”
It is Arsenal’s overall record of 14 that Premier League leaders Chelsea really want to equal against Spurs and Conte is impressed with the way his players are refusing to take their foot off the gas.
“When you win a lot, there is a great danger to be satisfied. To be relaxed and think that, in the end, we've won a lot in the past and a draw, if we don't win, is not important,” said Conte.
“My players showed me great will, great will to fight, great will to win, great will to take this great achievement for us. I'm pleased for them and they deserve this. I'm their coach, but they deserved this.
“Now it's not easy after 13 wins in a row, you face teams that want to beat you, not only to take three points but for many reasons. It's more difficult. We must know this. But when you have this type of player, you can go to sleep happy.”
On-loan goalkeeper Lee Grant was superb for Stoke in a first half in which the visitors were a match for Chelsea for long periods but still fell behind.
Grant’s first save of note came in the 18th minute, when he stopped Eden Hazard’s volley and the ball fortuitously rebounded off Bruno Martins Indi and straight back into his hands.
There was better to come from Grant 12 minutes before the break, but it was from one of his saves that Chelsea took the lead.
Costa brought down a long pass from David Luiz, but Grant first reacted quickly to punch the ball off the striker’s foot and then recovered to palm Hazard’s follow up around the post.
From the resulting corner, Cesc Fabregas picked out Cahill who jumped higher than Ryan Shawcross to head the ball past the helpless Grant.
But Stoke were level just 55 seconds into the restart, as the Blues defence and, according to Conte, the linesman were caught sleeping.
Charlie Adam pumped a high free-kick into the penalty area, Peter Crouch beat Cahill in the air and the striker’s header was converted in by Martins Indi, who was quicker to react than N’Golo Kante.
Willian should have restored the hosts’ lead shortly afterwards, but fired wide after being teed up on the edge of the area. The Brazilian was more accurate in the 57th minute, when he did manage to put Chelsea back in front.
The goal owed much to Victor Moses, who turned Erik Pieters inside out before sending a low cross into the area that Hazard cushioned and Willian lashed the ball into the net.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes responded by sending on Bojan and Giannelli Imbula, and the Spaniard made an immediate impact.
He capitalised on an air kick from Kante to send the ball out for Mame Diouf, who picked out Crouch to equalise – much to the annoyance of Conte.
But while the Italian was still berating his team’s defending, the Blues went straight up the other end and took the lead for the third time in the game.
Fabregas registered his 100th Premier League assist by sending Willian through on goal to smash the ball into the net and spark wild scenes of celebration down the touchline from Conte.
There were two more agonising moments for Conte, when Costa blazed a great chance over the bar and Cesar Azpilicueta superbly deflected the ball off the head of Crouch.
But he was finally able to saviour Chelsea’s 13th successive victory, when Costa wrestled Martins Indi out of the way before blasting the ball into the net and killing any hope of another Stoke comeback.
“We showed real belief and character to get back into the game, but we needed to do the right things at key points of the game and manage it to a conclusion,” said Hughes. “But that'll change in the New Year.”
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Mail:
Chelsea 4-2 Stoke: Willian double hands Antonio Conte's side 13th straight win but Bruno Martins-Indi and Peter Crouch make it tough at Stamford Bridge
Gary Cahill headed Chelsea into the lead against Stoke from a corner after 34 minutes
Bruno Martins-Indi equalised for Stoke in the 46th minute, converting a Peter Crouch header
Willian restored Chelsea's lead before Crouch himself levelled for Stoke again in the 64th minute
Willian got his second, 74 seconds after Crouch's strike, before Diego Costa sealed the victory
By Oliver Holt For The Mail On Sunday
A couple of days before Christmas, the staff at the Chelsea training ground at Cobham were handed presents from Antonio Conte. This was all the staff. Not just assistant coaches and masseurs. This was everyone. People who served in the canteen, others who cleaned the changing rooms, kitchen workers, administrative staff. All of them.
Conte had chosen either a bottle of Barolo or a bottle of Prosecco for each and what particularly impressed them was the fact that he had taken the time to write an individual note to every recipient.
At the end of each note, he had jotted down a quotation from the great military commander, Hannibal, famous today for leading his elephants over the Alps. ‘We will either find a way,’ the line Conte had chosen read, ‘or we will make one.’
How apposite that seemed on the last day of the year when what was expected to be a routine win over a struggling Stoke team turned into a battle royal at Stamford Bridge. There were times when Chelsea’s assault on the record books seemed in serious doubt but, one way or another, they made a way.
Twice, Stoke came from behind as Chelsea’s defence struggled to cope with their aerial bombardment and, in particular, the presence of Peter Crouch. Chelsea seemed at a loss for some periods but they never lost belief and they kept hitting back. They made a way.
This was their 13th straight league win in a single season, tying a record held by the Arsenal team of 2001-02 and Preston North End and Sunderland in 1891-92. If they win against Spurs at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, they will equal Arsenal’s overall record of 14 successive victories, set across two seasons.
What an effect Conte has had on this club. Midway through a campaign that most expected to be dominated by Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, Conte is the Man of the Season so far. His enthusiasm and his warmth is infectious. His demeanour and his style and the football his team is playing are actually making Chelsea popular.
The entire club is united around him. That is what he does. That is why he includes everyone when he hands out the Barolo and the Prosecco. Everyone feels a part of what is happening here.
This win took them, temporarily, nine points clear at the top, and it has already got to the point where they will be very hard to catch. ‘I’m pleased,’ Conte said after the match, ‘because my players showed me that they are able to adapt in different ways to the different types of football we are facing.
‘When you win a lot, there is a great danger to be satisfied, to be relaxed and think, “in the end, we’ve won a lot in the past and a draw, if we don’t win, is not important”. My players showed me great will, great will to fight.’
Stoke had opened more brightly but they did not create a clear- cut chance. Chelsea soaked the pressure up and then nearly caught their visitors with a sucker-punch.
Diego Costa wriggled away from Mame Biram Diouf at the back post and took a floated ball from Cesc Fabregas on his chest. Diouf slipped and Costa lashed his shot goalwards. Lee Grant did superbly to block it with his chest and then got the bit of luck he deserved when the ball rebounded off Eden Hazard’s head into his arms.
Chelsea looked curiously out of sorts, and Conte began to grow agitated on the touchline. When David Luiz played a careless cross-field ball out of defence and it was cut out by Erik Pieters, it set off a chain of events that should have seen Mark Hughes’s side take the lead, but Xherdan Shaqiri ballooned his shot over.
A minute later, Thibaut Courtois sliced an attempted clearance behind and Charlie Adam steered a free header wide from the corner. Chelsea soon made Stoke pay for their generosity. Ten minutes before half time, Costa caused havoc in the Stoke box and when the ball broke to Eden Hazard only another brilliant save from Grant kept his shot out. But when Fabregas curled the corner over, Gary Cahill rose to meet it at the near post and headed powerfully past the Stoke keeper.
Most assumed that would be it.
Another routine win for Chelsea on their inexorable march towards a title that some pundits have suggested they might as well be awarded already. Stoke had other ideas.
Many fans were still making their way back to their seats after the interval when Stoke equalised. Adam floated a long free-kick to the back post, Crouch rose to head it across goal and Bruno Martins Indi somehow made space to sidefoot the ball past a static Courtois.
Chelsea were not cowed for long. Just 10 minutes later, Victor Moses drilled a cross in from the right, Hazard killed it with a beautifully delicate touch of his instep and Willian lashed it past Grant to restore Chelsea’s lead. Stoke hit back again with a fine move of their own.
Crouch took down a long ball on the edge of the box and played it back to substitute Bojan. He spread it wide to Diouf and Crouch got in front of his marker to tap home.
It was breathless stuff and a minute later, Chelsea were ahead again. Hazard, Willian and Fabregas were all superb and when Stoke gave Fabregas way too much space on the edge of the box, he slipped a perfectly-weighted pass through to Willian, who slammed a rising drive into the roof of the net. Conte ran up and down the touchline, beside himself with joy.
Chelsea should have put the match out of reach 15 minutes from time when Costa lifted his shot over the bar. They were then indebted to Cesar Azpilicueta for a brilliant intervention to take the ball off Crouch’s toe when the striker was closing in for a second goal.
Reprieved, Costa finished things off as only as he can, making a chance out of nothing with sheer muscular awkwardness and lifting his shot high into the net.
Just as Conte had promised they would, Chelsea had made a way.
Chelsea: Courtois 6, Azpilicueta 6, Luiz 6, Cahill 6.5, Moses 5 (Ivanovic 82, 5), Kante 6, Fabregas 8 (Matic 73, 6), Alonso 6, Willian 8.5 (Chalobah 84), Hazard 8, Costa 7.5
Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Loftus-Cheek, Batshuayi.
Goals: Cahill 34, Willian 57, 65, Costa 85.
Booked: Moses, Fabregas, Alonso.
Stoke City: Grant 8, Johnson 6, Shawcross 6, Martins Indi 7, Diouf 5, Allen 6, Adam 7, Pieters 7, Afellay 4(Bojan 6.5), Crouch 7, Shaqiri 5(Imbula 6)
Subs: Bardsley, Whelan, Bony, Imbula, Given, Krkic, Sobhi.
Goals: Martins-Indi 46, Crouch 64.
Booked: Diouf, Adam.
Referee: Robert Madley 6
Att: 41, 601.
=======================================
Mirror:
Chelsea 4-2 Stoke City: Willian brace helps Blues claim 13th win in a row - 5 things we learned
A topsy-turvy clash saw stubborn Stoke twice equalise, but the sees Conte's men end 2016 on a high
BY ADRIAN KAJUMBA
Chelsea survived a minor scare against Stoke to make it 13 Premier League wins in a row.
The Blues were pegged back twice by Stoke at Stamford Bridge before eventually running out comfortable winners.
Gary Cahill headed Chelsea in front after 34 minutes but Bruno Martins Indi levelled for Stoke just after the break.
Willian slammed in his first to put Chelsea back in front only for Peter Crouch to side foot in from close range to make it 2-2.
But Willian struck again a minute later to put Chelsea in front for the third time before Diego Costa put the game to bed in the 85th minute.
1. More history for Chelsea
Another week, another landmark reached for Antonio Conte's history makers.
This victory over Stoke made it 13 league wins in a row. Unlucky for some but certainly not for Chelsea.
That equalled the top flight record for consecutive wins in the same season set by Preston and Sunderland in 1891-92 and matched by Arsenal in 2001-02.
Next up, Chelsea try to equal Arsenal's Premier League record 14 wins in row at Tottenham on Wednesday, though that was set over two seasons in 2002.
2. Chelsea pass another test
The questions keep being asked of Chelsea and they keep answering them emphatically.
In this 13-game winning run they have faced pretty much every type of challenge they could come up against and continued to secure victories.
This was another narrow win to go along with the ones against Middlesbrough, Tottenham, West Brom, Sunderland and Crystal Palace.
But the test this time was Chelsea's response to having their aura of invincibility genuinely punctured, albeit briefly.
Stoke became the first side to score twice against Chelsea since Arsenal in September, the pivotal game that sparked the formation change and winning run.
But the Blues are a different and significantly more resilient outfit now, dusted themselves down after conceding and hit back quickly before cruising to victory.
3. Lee Grant
After a bit of back and forth with Derby Stoke have finally landed Lee Grant for around £1m.
He has already paid that off this season with some of his displays and the sum they will pay out to keep him for the rest of the campaign will be money well spent.
The veteran stopper, 33, has excelled since arriving on loan from Derby and continued his impressive form against Chelsea.
His saves from Diego Costa, three times, Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard prevented the damage being much worse than it could have been.
4. What Stoke need in January
With their goalkeeping issue now resolved, Stoke could do with another option up top.
Peter Crouch was a handful, scoring Stoke's second equaliser, in a rare start for the 35 year-old.
But Wilfried Bony's loan move hasn't worked out and they could do with an alternative.
5. Chelsea's shopping list
As for Chelsea, how do you improve the league's best side? Right across the pitch they look strong with plenty of options in reserve.
Perhaps the only thing they need is Lady Luck to stay on their side and keep their main men fit for the second half of the season.
Player ratings
Chelsea
Courtois 6 - Exposed for goal and, aside from one air kick, a calming presence.
Azpilicueta 6 - Gave away free-kick for equaliser and then lost Stoke scorer Indi.
Luiz 7 - Couple of risky passes but also made a number of decisive interceptions.
Cahill 7 - Scored opener but was beaten in the air by Crouch before Stoke goal.
Moses BOOKED 6 - Stayed out of trouble after early booking and helped set up winner.
Fabregas BOOKED MOTM 8 - Ran the show with an excellent all round midfield display.
Kante 7 - First to every loose ball and never lost possession when he had it
Alonso BOOKED 6 - Got forward well all game and was a regular outlet.
Willian 8 - Came to the fore in the second half with two well taken goals.
Costa 8 - Led line expertly and got a deserved goal out of nothing.
Hazard 6 - Not as eye-catching as against Bournemouth but still grabbed an assist.
SUBS
Matic (Fabregas 75) 5
Ivanovic (Moses 82) 5
Chalobah (Willian 84) 5
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Sun:
Chelsea 4 Stoke 2
Scoreline flatters the Blues but tired Chelsea manage to continue march
BY TOM SHEEN
CHELSEA won for the 13th game in a row at Stoke – but the Premier League leading Blues were far from their best.
Here’s five things we learnt from the Blues 4-2 win over the Potters at Stamford Bridge.
TIRED CHELSEA
The scoreline more than flattered the home side – Stoke were much better than the 4-2 scoreline might suggest.
A lot of that was to do with a Chelsea side that didn’t look entirely at the races.
The back three of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta made two errors for the goals that we simply haven’t seen during this long winning run.
Whether that is complacency or just tiredness it was hard to tell, but Antonio Conte must decide if he wants to freshen up the team more than he has done.
Eden Hazard had no impact and Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses didn’t get up and down like they usually do.
That being said, Chelsea were still able to pick up a convincing win and score four with relative ease.
Ominous for the rest.
r
WILLIAN STEPS UP
Pedro missed out because of suspension and will have a problem getting back into the team next week.
Willian was easily Chelsea's best attacking player on the day and deserved his two goals.
It was reminiscent of last season when the Blues were over-reliant on the winger.
The Brazilian burst into tears after his second - in memory of his mother who died after a battle with cancer earlier this year.
He more than deserved his standing ovation as he walked off having been substituted.
FAB THE PASS MASTER
It wasn't his best game but Fabregas is vital to the Blues in this type of game when teams set up to stop Chelsea.
He has his weaknesses, but for all N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic's brilliance this season, never has the eye - nor the bravery - to take the risky forward pass.
Not only that, his brilliant set-piece delivery means Chelsea are always a threat.
Gary Cahill scored the opener about 10 minutes after forcing Lee Grant into a good save - both came from super Fabregas crosses.
Two more assists against Stoke and the Spaniard moves to an impressive landmark - 100 Premier League assists.
He is fourth on the all-time list (although the stats haven't been tracked for every season) and reached the landmark quicker than anybody else.
Fabregas reached the milestone in 293 matches - 74 fewer appearances than Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs
VINTAGE CROUCH
Peter Crouch is now way past his peak and at 35, the little athleticism he once had is all but evaporated.
This was a vintage performance from the former England striker, who gave the Chelsea back three fits anytime the ball came near.
Throughout his career, Crouch's style has not been appreciated - with some even mocking him.
But Crouch remains a real threat.
A goal and an assist showed Crouch at his best.
A knockdown from a long free-kick for the first goal and a majestic touch in the build up for the second.
Sure, he took advantage of some uncharacteristically sloppy Chelsea defending, but Crouch was a real thorn in the Blues' side.
CONTE FIGHTS OFF THE PAIN
Earlier this week a humorous story emerged from the Chelsea training ground - Antonio Conte had injured his calf during a jog.
One might have expected that to stop the Italian from his usual antics on the touchline, where he often seems to go through more of a workout than some of the players on the pitch.
Afraid not.
Conte was as animated and agitated as ever, screaming his orders and frantically waving his arms.
He didn't forget to run up and down the touchline when Chelsea scored, either.
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Star:
Chelsea 4 Stoke 2: Blues survive scare to extend winning run to 13
UNLUCKY for some? For the rest of the Premier League it might be.
By Tony Stenson
Two goals by man of the match Willian and one each from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa stretched Chelsea's winning Premier League run to 13 and surely the title is their’s to lose.
Just when Stoke looked as if they might have caused a shock, up popped Diego Costa to rattle his 14th goal of the season with five minutes remaining.
Now the canvas shifts to Spurs on Wednesday where victory would equal Arsenal’s 14-game run set in 2002.
Pack the tin hats because there’s not much love between the sides.
Spurs are still smarting from last season’s ill-tempered that virtually cost them the title.
Chelsea fans left singing and dancing, on route to New Year’s Eve parties that few would live up to after today's fireworks.
They were taken all the way by Stoke, who where ferocious and skilful but in the end it was at the business ended in which they faltered, despite goals from Bruno Martins Indi and Peter Crouch.
Stoke have now been hit by several four goal defeats but they are much better than scoreline suggests.
They just need to believe more and get their defence in order.
Chelsea, often needed last ditch tackles and determination to gain footfall, just had enough when it mattered.
They produced the kind of fighting football that wins things and have players in key areas like Willian and Eden Hazard to deliver.
Stoke keeper Lee Grant, once a second choice at Derby, kept them at bay for long periods with a string of super saves.
He gave them hope until Cahill headed in Chelsea’s first goal to calm nerves and stick a pin into Stoke’s resolve.
Until then they were on even keel, given us good as they got and few would have bet on the out-come.
Stoke copied Chelsea by playing three at the back and lumped many forward.
It helped suffocate Chelsea and level the playing field.
They held all the aces early, funnelling forward and enjoying Chelsea’s nerves.
They were intent on being the party poopers, moving the ball swiftly, never ducking tackles and winning the second ball.
Chelsea were mesmerised by a side that has suffered several heavy defeats and were expected to be fodder on their glory march.
It looked sound tactics until Chelsea finally unleashed Hazard to cause his usual mayhem.
Diego Costa, back after suspension, unleashed a ferocious 18th minute shot that Stoke keeper Grant magnificently kept out.
Grant then he produced another super save two minutes later to palm away Cahill’s header from a Cesc Fabregas corner.
His third sensational save from Eden Hazard in the 32nd minute also brought Stoke’s downfall.
Grant kept out Costa and then Hazard, turning his shot for a corner but Fabregas curled over a beauty that Cahill powerfully headed home.
Just when the canvas looked to have changed Stoke equalised.
Charlie Adam swung over a free kick that Crouch - who else? - headed across goal and Martins Indi stuck out a boot to touch home.
Willian put Chelsea back in the driving seat when he turned in a 57th minute effort after Hazard had touched back a Victor Moses cross.
Stoke were still not finished and Crouch finished a 64th minute move he started by tuning in Mame Biram Diouf’s cross.
But within a minute Willian scored his second, a bullet shot from a Fabregas pass.
Stoke left the field disappointed, but with heads held high.
They were a credit to the Premier League, never stepping back and taking the game right to the wire.
But just as Chelsea fans were baying for the whistle, Costa battled his way through Stoke’s defence to fire in their fourth.
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Express:
Chelsea 4 - Stoke 2: Conte's men stay top and extend winning record to 13 games
CHELSEA welcomed in the New Year with the sort of swagger and flourish that suggests it's going to be a champion one for them.
By COLIN MAFHAM
It they do what they did to plucky Stoke yesterday they will get their 14th consecutive win - a Premier League record - at Tottenham of all places.
A repeat of the performance two-goal Willian put on yesterday suggests that is a distinct possibility.
It took the brilliant Brazilian and his mates a while to warm up, but once they did it was champion stuff despite some brave resistance from a Stoke side who were rather better than the scoreline suggests.
For 17 minutes they were more than a match for the champions-elect. But in the space of just four minutes Lee Grant, the Stoke keeper few had heard of before last September, produced a couple of world class saves to deny Diego Costa and Gary Cahill.
A third out of the same top drawer followed soon afterwards, but even Grant at his greatest couldn't stop Chelsea going in front on 33 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas's corner was inch perfect, and Grant probably didn't even see the Cahill header that met it until he picked the ball out of the net.
Normal service you could say had been well and truly restored.
But remember that funny old game they talk about? Chelsea didn't.
Within two minutes of the restart they were done by the oldest long ball trick in the book, courtesy of the oldest man on the field.
Peter Crouch did what he's been doing so well for years, rising high a over his marker to nod down a freekick from Charlie Adam into the path of one Bruno Martins Indi.
No exactly a household name in these parts, but his equaliser ensured the Stoke faithful will remember him for quite a while - as do the Dutch who remember similar heroics for Holland.
And that was the signal for a positive goal fest.
Willian got Chelsea back in front again following a super 57th minute move involving Victor Moses and Eden Hazard.
Crouch levelled it again seven minutes later after Chelsea's defenders got themselves into a terrible pickle.
But man of the match Willian took just 60 seconds longer to restore Chelsea's lead when the imperious Fabregas found him in space with a peach of a pass.
Three thrilling goals in 12 magical minutes which literally lit up a game that merely smouldered up until then.
And who was it left to put the icing on the Chelsea cake? Costa,of course.
His Chelsea fans had been singing his name from the word go and he finally responded with a cracker five minutes from time.
Some might say Martins Indi was bullied too easily, but no one could deny Costa's predatory power once he got sight of goal. Once again, Grant didn't have a prayer.
Game over, folks, roll on next Wednesday.
Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses (Ivanovic 82), Kante, Fabregas (Matic 73), Alonso; Willian (Chalobah 84), Costa, Hazard.
Stoke City: Grant; Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters; Allen, Adam; Diouf, Shaqiri (Bojan 62), Afellay (Imbula 62) Crouch.
Referee: Robert Madley.
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