Chelsea went into their New Year’s Eve fixture against Mark Hughes’ Stoke City outfit looking to tie the longest Premier League winning streak in one season which Arsenal held alone at 13 games. Now Chelsea hold the single season record along with the Gunners after their undeniably impressive 4-2 destruction of the Potters. In their next game the Blues will be looking to equal the longest all-time winning streak in the Premier League which is currently held by Arsenal when they achieved it by winning 14 wins in a row across 2 seasons between February and August of 2002. In their current form you would have to bet on Chelsea beating Tottenham away on Wednesday January 4th 2017 to equal the 14 game win streak and then going on to take the record on their own by beating Champions Leicester City on Saturday 14th January at the King Power Stadium.
Chelsea led 1-0 at the half against Stoke thanks to a Gary Cahill goal before the Potters equalised immediately at the start of the second half as Stoke defender Bruno Martins Indi poked home from close range. The Blues then took the lead again as Willian scored on 57 minutes and it seems as though the talented Brazilian is starting to get over the massive trauma of losing his mother recently. Chelsea could only enjoy the lead for 7 minutes before Peter Crouch levelled the match with a calm side-foot finish high past Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal.
At that point in the game things were very much in the balance even if Chelsea had enjoyed the better of possession and created the better chances but Chelsea did not allow Stoke to enjoy parity for long as it was Willian again who seized on an opportunity as Chelsea swept forward and the Brazilian fired a fierce angled drive into the Stoke net for a 3-2 lead on 65 minutes. Then as the game carried on it was not a surprise to see man-of-the-match striker Diego Costa score the 4th Chelsea goal wrapping things up on 85 minutes. Costa, who had been a superb outlet all game long for his team-mates on a day when the Chelsea defence was not at its best, shrugged off the futile challenge of Stoke’s Martins Indi to drive home a deserved goal and put the icing on the cake for Chelsea.
As the BBC reported Chelsea’s manager Antonio Conte had this to say when interviewed at the end of the game:
“Congratulations go to my players. To win 13 games in a row in this league is very difficult.
“Stoke played very well. They hit long balls to Crouch and fought for the second ball. My players showed they can adapt to the different kinds of game we face. They showed great commitment, work-rate and will to win. I’m delighted for them.
“Now, it’s important to celebrate the arrival of the new year, then to think of the next game against Tottenham.
“Numbers are not important if you do not win the title. Now, they are fantastic and we are proud, but we must concentrate on the second part of the season.”
His counterpart Mark Hughes, Stoke’s boss felt his team was in the game but that defensive errors continue to cost them dearly against top clubs like Chelsea and had this to say in his post-game interview:
“It’s a similar story to our efforts at Liverpool. We got back level, but then conceded poor goals. We’ve made mistakes and good teams punish you.
“I thought we did really well, showing courage to get back in the game. I thought we were good value to get a draw, but we can’t keep on making the mistakes we are at the moment because it’s hurting us.
“We were positive, got back level and it was up for grabs. For their third goal, the ball went through about four of our players. We can’t keep defending as we are in key moments. If we take that out of our game, we will be fine.
“Mistakes happen, the opposition can affect what you do. You have to understand the time, the moments of the game.”
So Chelsea can grab a well-earned short rest before facing Pochettino’s Spurs side who have to play tomorrow against Watford. Chelsea will be looking to take advantage of their extra day’s rest and to secure their record equalling 14th win in a row.