William Scores Brace As Chelsea Bruise Stoke City

Chelsea equalled Arsenal's record for the most consecutive Premier League wins in a season with a thrilling 4-2 victory against Stoke on New Year's Eve.

The Blues now have 13 games in a row - the same as the Gunners side from the 2001/02 campaign - and took the lead just after 30 minutes thanks to Gary Cahill's header. 

But Martins Indi scored the fastest second-half goal of the season just 54 seconds after the restart to get Stoke level, before Willian scored his first of two goals ten minutes later to put the Blues back ahead. 

Diego Costa - returning to the side after a suspension on Boxing Day - had the final word with five minutes of normal time to play to round off the victory and send Chelsea nine points clear.

The first-half was a slow burner, with a shot from N'Golo Kante - also back in the side after his one-game ban - in the seventh minute being the pick of the action from the opening exchanges.

Lee Grant was then called into action twice in quick succession to deny Chelsea. The first came in the 19th minute as Costa rounded Mame Biram Diouf on the left of the box, but his shot was kept out by the diving chest of the goalkeeper before he collected the rebound after it came off the back of Martins Indi.

He was in action again three minutes later to palm away a Cahill header before Charlie Adam saw his own headed effort skim wide from a Xherdan Shaqiri corner in the best chance of the half for Stoke.

Grant produced another heroic save in the 33rd minute to deny Costa once again. David Luiz played a sublime ball down the field that picked out the striker, who turned Ryan Shawcross before shooting, but the Stoke stopper was off his line to block the effort. He then recovered well to palm away the rebound from Eden Hazard.

But Grant could do nothing about the resulting corner, as Cahill rose above the Stoke defence in the box to power home from a Cesc Fabregas corner to put the hosts in front heading into the break.

It was a goal-laden second half and Stoke equalised with their first shot on target within a minute of the restart. Adam fired a delightful free kick into the box that found the head of Crouch at the back post, that the striker nodded into the path of Martins Indi who steered the ball home.

Chelsea were in front again ten minutes later, though, in what was a fine team goal. Victor Moses got away from Erik Pieters on the right of the box before his low cross found Hazard in the middle. The Belgian took one touch to put the ball into the path of Willian who curled home a delightful effort through four Stoke players.

Stoke switched off momentarily and allowed Chelsea to again go ahead a minute later. A loose pass from the visitors set off Fabregas towards the box, who slipped in Willian on the right and he took a few steps before hitting home from a tight angle to beat Grant. 

Both sides had chances to get the next goal as the game headed towards a thrilling conclusion, with a gut-busting break from Willian, Hazard and Costa seeing the striker power a shot over the bar before a sublime Glen Johnson cross was poked wide by Azpilicueta who was ahead of a waiting Crouch. 

Costa had the final say of the game though, coming with five minutes of normal time to play. A throw-in from Marcos Alonso was headed into the box by Adam, arriving at the feet of the Chelsea striker who beat both Shawcross and Martins Indi before nestling the ball into the back of the net.

Final score stood at Chelsea 4 Stoke 2.

Leicester City Vs Chelsea Match Report

Marcos Alonso scored twice as Chelsea beat Leicester to move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, despite Diego Costa's absence.

Marco Alonso and Pedro score the Chelsea goals as they maintained seven points lead at the top of the EPL table with Diego Costa absent from this game.

The Blues were without their top scorer after a training ground dispute over his fitness, amid reports he has been offered a lucrative move to China.

That saga did not affect them at the King Power Stadium, however, with Eden Hazard setting up Alonso to fire home after only six minutes.

The Spanish wing-back added his second early in the second half when his shot from the edge of the area was deflected in.

Ahmed Musa had tested Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois before his side fell behind, but the defending champions did not manage another shot on target.

Before kick-off, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had played down any row involving Costa, claiming he was not in his squad because of a back injury.

Whatever the truth behind Costa's absence, the Blues showed again that they can win without the Spain striker, who has scored 14 goals and provided five assists for them this season.

Chelsea initially had to work harder for the points than they did when Costa was suspended in their 3-0 victory over Bournemouth on 26 December - the only other league game he has missed in 2016-17.

Again they used Hazard to lead the line rather than turn to £33m summer signing Michy Batshuayi, who was left on the bench and still awaits his first league start.

Alonso, rather than Hazard, will get the headlines on this occasion, but Chelsea's dominant performance was further evidence it will be hard to dislodge them from top spot.

This was Chelsea's 12th clean sheet in 21 games and, even without Costa's belligerent presence up front, they remain difficult to break down and dangerous when they come forward.

Conte's side had seen their 13-game winning streak ended by Tottenham in their previous Premier League game, but that remains their only defeat since the end of September.

Pedro made sure of the points with a deft header from Willian's cross. Leicester City on a new-look 3-5-2 formation, struggled to find a way back into the game.

Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri, named Fifa's coach of the year this week, attempted to match Chelsea's formation by playing with wing-backs of his own - but his experiment did not pay off.

Albrighton and Ben Chilwell failed to make the same impact as their opposite numbers, Alonso and Victor Moses, and the Foxes struggled to create chances.

England striker Jamie Vardy was back from suspension to lead their attack, but he made little impression apart from playing one dangerous cross and did not manage a single shot.

Leicester are still six points above the relegation zone despite this defeat but, with Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Daniel Amarty away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Ranieri must find a better blend with the players still at his disposal.