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.

Chelsea Beats Crystal Palace to Extend Lead EPL at Christmas Day

Chelsea centre-forward Diego Costa scored our first headed goal of the season, and his 50th Chelsea goal overall, shortly before half-time, and that proved enough for a third 1-0 win in a row and a minimum six-point lead in the table going into Christmas.

It was by no means an easy win in this London derby however, as both sides maybe showed signs of tiredness at the end of a draining week. Thibaut Courtois had to make saves, although not as diffcult as the ones on Wednesday, and it was the Blues who came closest to scoring the game’s second goal when Marcos Alonso struck woodwork late on.

There is now an eight-day recovery period until we play again although there is an added complication for the Boxing Day game of no Diego Costa or N’Golo Kante for then, following bookings today. 

For this game at Selhurst Park, Eden Hazard was back from his one-game injury absence and Nemanja Matic also returned to the line up having started on the bench at Sunderland. Conte had indicated 24 hours earlier that this may be a game to rest odd players at the end of a busy week, and Pedro was among the subs this time so Willian started for the second game running. Cesc Fabregas returned to the bench.

The stage was set for the chance to put more pressure on our challenges as we kicked off the first Premier League game of the weekend, and early Chelsea pressure came down our left. There was hope of a chance inside 10 minutes when Kante was alert to intercepting Damien Delaney’s pass forward from the back but Hazard did not read our midfielder’s subsequent intentions.

Soon after, Kante was spoken to by the ref but the booking that means a suspension came later. There was however a yellow card shown to Palace full-back Joel Ward on 16 minutes when he took down Hazard just outside the area, following a smart back heel from Willian. That had been our best move yet, but David Luiz’s subsequent free-kick was deflected wide safely for the home team.

It was Palace who had the first real chance of the game, when Martin Kelly’s run into space wide on the right was spotted but his low cross was screwed wide by Jason Puncheon.

Midway through the half came the booking that does mean a Chelsea change at centre-forward for Bournemouth on Boxing Day. Diego Costa was carded for a trip so will serve the one-match ban he has for so long avoided.  

Chelsea were under a degree of pressure at this stage of the game, but Hazard was beginning to make his runs and Palace were resorting to giving away free-kicks to stop him.

Still the chances did not come however and the first half drifted on with regular interruptions for fouls from both sides. Chelsea did break well and finally won the game at full time.

Fabregas Puts Chelsea to Six Points Lead with Sunderland Win

Chelsea got their 10th consecutive win for Antonio Conte,  who have not been beaten in the league since a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on 24 September.

If the Italian leads his side the to the Premier League crown, that slump in north London one Saturday afternoon will burnish his myth.

Trailing 3-0 at the pause, Conte switched to the formation that had been his bedrock while in charge of Juventus and then Italy.

Arsenal cruised through the second half and the tactical change went virtualy unnoticed as talk began about how long Conte had left in the job at Chelsea following successive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal.

A couple of months later - and two Premier League manager of the month awards - the debate is more about how to frustrate Conte's all conquering innovation.

Manchester City should have stopped the juggernaut on 3 December at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola's men were leading 1-0 and had a glorious chance to make it 2-0. The opportunity was squandered and Chelsea hit back to win 3-1. A week earlier, Tottenham Hotspur led at Stamford Bridge but Pedro and Victor Moses struck to end the visitors' unbeaten start.

Since the victory over Manchester City, there have been two 1-0 wins. Hardly spectacular like the 5-0 and 4-0 home romps over Everton and Manchester United respectively but three points nonetheless.

"I am pleased for my players because they deserve this 10th victory for their commitment and work-rate every day, in every training session, during the game", Conte said. "Now for sure we have to continue.

A trip to south-east London on Saturday to take on Crystal Palace is in the offing. Eden Hazard, who missed the voyage to Sunderland, should be fit to return to the line-up.

On Wednesday night, it was one of the putative forgotten men who secured the victory. Fabregas has been one of the main casualties of Conte's 3-4-3 with the Italian preferring the shields of Nemanja Matic and N'Golo Kante in the middle rather than the Spain international's playmaking genius.

With Matic injured, Fabregas has entered and his renowned range of passing has posed a different set of problems for opponents relying on defence.

"The performance was really good and I felt we were very, very strong," said Fabregas after the game. "Now we want to keep winning. Hopefully we can continue like this and send out a strong message."

The 29-year-old former Arsenal and Barcelona star added: "People forget that it's only my second time in my career that I've played this system. My teammates have played it much more, but I'm getting used to it and feel very comfortable."

Home games against Bournemouth and Stoke over Christmas follow the match at Palace. "I prefer not to look at the top of the table," Conte said. "We are doing something important up to now, but the league doesn't finish today. There are still three games before the halfway stage of the season. And then another 19.

David Moyes, the Sunderland manager, is facing a fight for survival rather than glory. Sunderland are bottom after 16 games with 11 points. The safety of 17th place is four points away.

Moyes says he believes the strong showing against Chelsea offers hope. "We can come off saying we have had a right go at a top team," he said. "We got better in the second half and finished strongly. But didn't quite do enough to get something out of the game."

Moyes added: "Their keeper made two great saves. "You need a top keeper and a top striker and we have that here, but so have Chelsea and they are a real threat.

"It's too early to say if Chelsea will be champions. We restricted them to a few scoring opportunities but we couldn't stop them controlling the game."

Chelsea beats Liverpool at Anfield to maintain lead

Jose Mourinho Chelsea team maintained their seasons 100% record at Anfield by beating Liverpool.

Goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa cancelled Liverpool's early lead from Emre Can in the 9th minute and completes Mourinho's masterstroke at Anfield in 2014.

 Cahill scored in the 14th minute to make it 1 - 1 only for Costa to net the winner in the 67th minute.

This time there was no need for José Mourinho to worry unduly about Chelsea’s opponents. Liverpool, to put it bluntly, do not inspire that kind of trepidation any more and Chelsea could dismantle them without any complaints about their methods.
Chelsea did have to withstand some late pressure and Liverpool have legitimate grievances about that moment, after 87 minutes, when Gary Cahill blocked a Gerrard shot with his hand.

The referee, Anthony Taylor, was guilty of missing a clear penalty but Rodgers was stretching the truth when he tried to argue a draw would have been an accurate assessment of how the contest went. The truth is that Chelsea were the more rounded side for at least three-quarters of the game.

 Ramires was introduced just before the hour mark while Didier Drogba and Filipe lius were introduced on the 90th minute to hold on the time at Anfield.

 They played with control and know-how, with Nemanja Matic outstanding in midfield and Cesc Fàbregas only marginally subdued by Jordan Henderson’s man-marking. Fàbregas,


Post match interview with Mourinho revealed afterwards, that Fabregas had played despite a hamstring injury and may now miss a couple of matches. The same applies to Ramires, with a groin problem.

 “They were really in trouble but they put themselves there for the team,” Mourinho said. It typified the spirit of his side.

The match ended Liverpool 1 Chelsea 2

Diego Costa Scores Hattrick in Chelsea Win

Diego Costa scored three goals in Chelsea win over Swansea.

John Terry scored an own goal to hand Swansea an early lead before Diego Costa equalized in the stoppage time of the first half.
Diego Costa score two more goals in the second half to hand Chelsea 3 - 1 Lead over Swansea before being replaced by Loic Remy.

Remy immediately made it four before Swansea got their second goal with few minutes left in regulation time making it two for Swansea.

Final Score
Chelsea 4 Swansea 2