Stoke City 0-4 Chelsea: ALVARO MORATAAAA!
Scorers: Morata 2', 78', 82', Pedro 30'
It was the absolute perfect start to a taxing week for Chelsea, as the Blues thumped Stoke City 4-0 at the bet265 Stadium on Saturday.
This was thanks to a first ever Blues hattrick by Alvaro Morata, who made the most of a makeshift Stoke backline to run riot. Also, all three of his strikes came with his foot, after three headers to start the season. His tally for the season in the Premier League now stands at 6, joint-top with Romelu Lukaku and Sergio Aguero from the Manchester clubs.
Pedro was the other goalscorer, with his first of the season.
Antonio Conte decided to go with Tiemoue Bakayoko and N'Golo Kante in midfield, as we'd predicted. The French duo gave us power and thrust, and did a great job of keeping Stoke at bay in the opening period.
There was also a start for Andreas Christensen in place of the suspended David Luiz, with captain Gary Cahill on the bench. Eden Hazard started on the bench as well, along with Cesc Fabregas.
All nerves were settled as early as the second minute, when a ball over the top from stand-in captain Cesar Azpilicueta found Morata. The Spaniard didn't need a second invitation, as he controlled perfectly with first touch before slotting home with his second. It was as perfect a start as could be.
The home side did come back into the match, with Xherdan Shaqiri looking like a constant threat with some wicked crosses into the box with his left foot. We were playing on the counter, and Hazard's absence was conspicuously evident. Willian was doing us no favours whatsoever by losing the ball again and again.
Just as Stoke seemed to be gaining control, we delivered the killer blow on 30 minutes.
Pedro brilliantly anticipated a pass from Darren Fletcher to get a clear shot at goal. His task though, was hardly simple. He found the corner of the net from the edge of the box, with Jack Butland having no chance. It was an absolutely outstanding finish, and looked better and better with every replay. More importantly though, it gave us a two goal cushion going into the break.
It was more of the same in the opening periods of the second half. Marcos Alonso lost control of himself a bit, being given a yellow initially before being very lucky indeed to stay on the pitch after hacking down a Stoke player unnecessarily. Referee Mike Dean saw fit to let him get away with just a talking to, and Conte immediately brought on Cahill before we were reduced to 10 yet again.
The telling substitutions, however, came between 68 and 72 minutes. Cesc Fabregas came on for Pedro, while Hazard was brought on for Willian. This has been a pattern in the last couple of games, with the team switching to something of a 3-5-2 in the closing stages of games.
The difference was immediate, as we suddenly had so much more pace, thrust and creativity in attack.
The deciding goal came on 78 minutes, when an interception from Bakayoko fell to Morata. The striker beat Fletcher as if he wasn't there before exquisitely chipping Butland for a mighty fine solo goal.
Five minutes later, a lovely team move culminated with our record signing completing his hattrick. Hazard found Fabregas on the edge of the box, who saw Azpilicueta's run into the area from left wing back. He found the ball over the top, for Azpi to square for Morata. The defender now has 4 assists this season, all to his compatriot forward.
There were chances for us to make it 5-0, but at the end of the day, nothing could take away credit from an absolutely magnificent away performance.
It was the absolute perfect start to a taxing week for Chelsea, as the Blues thumped Stoke City 4-0 at the bet265 Stadium on Saturday.
This was thanks to a first ever Blues hattrick by Alvaro Morata, who made the most of a makeshift Stoke backline to run riot. Also, all three of his strikes came with his foot, after three headers to start the season. His tally for the season in the Premier League now stands at 6, joint-top with Romelu Lukaku and Sergio Aguero from the Manchester clubs.
Pedro was the other goalscorer, with his first of the season.
The Match
There was also a start for Andreas Christensen in place of the suspended David Luiz, with captain Gary Cahill on the bench. Eden Hazard started on the bench as well, along with Cesc Fabregas.
All nerves were settled as early as the second minute, when a ball over the top from stand-in captain Cesar Azpilicueta found Morata. The Spaniard didn't need a second invitation, as he controlled perfectly with first touch before slotting home with his second. It was as perfect a start as could be.
The home side did come back into the match, with Xherdan Shaqiri looking like a constant threat with some wicked crosses into the box with his left foot. We were playing on the counter, and Hazard's absence was conspicuously evident. Willian was doing us no favours whatsoever by losing the ball again and again.
Just as Stoke seemed to be gaining control, we delivered the killer blow on 30 minutes.
Pedro brilliantly anticipated a pass from Darren Fletcher to get a clear shot at goal. His task though, was hardly simple. He found the corner of the net from the edge of the box, with Jack Butland having no chance. It was an absolutely outstanding finish, and looked better and better with every replay. More importantly though, it gave us a two goal cushion going into the break.
It was more of the same in the opening periods of the second half. Marcos Alonso lost control of himself a bit, being given a yellow initially before being very lucky indeed to stay on the pitch after hacking down a Stoke player unnecessarily. Referee Mike Dean saw fit to let him get away with just a talking to, and Conte immediately brought on Cahill before we were reduced to 10 yet again.
The telling substitutions, however, came between 68 and 72 minutes. Cesc Fabregas came on for Pedro, while Hazard was brought on for Willian. This has been a pattern in the last couple of games, with the team switching to something of a 3-5-2 in the closing stages of games.
The difference was immediate, as we suddenly had so much more pace, thrust and creativity in attack.
The deciding goal came on 78 minutes, when an interception from Bakayoko fell to Morata. The striker beat Fletcher as if he wasn't there before exquisitely chipping Butland for a mighty fine solo goal.
Five minutes later, a lovely team move culminated with our record signing completing his hattrick. Hazard found Fabregas on the edge of the box, who saw Azpilicueta's run into the area from left wing back. He found the ball over the top, for Azpi to square for Morata. The defender now has 4 assists this season, all to his compatriot forward.
There were chances for us to make it 5-0, but at the end of the day, nothing could take away credit from an absolutely magnificent away performance.
The Screening
Despite the city being abuzz with Navratri celebrations, we had a group of 5 lads who dropped in to watch the match together. This bunch included long-time Amdavadi Blues Meet Anjaria, Ravi Thakker, Samay Kukkar, Tushar Singh Sankhala and Venkatesh Iyer.
Needless to say, everyone went home with smiles as wide as the margin between the two teams on the day. Alvaro Morata is very quickly becoming a huge favourite, and assuaging the pain of losing Diego Costa.
Fans' thoughts
There was an obvious sense of optimism and pride following this result.
Vivan Mehta had this to say following the game - "Playing away at Stoke is always a tough fixture. But we showed resilience, the ability of repeated chance creation and a brilliant tactical display all in all. Also,the newest Spanish acquisition instead of gloating over his hat-trick mentioned missed chances, that says MORE than any pundit's analysis ever will.
This team is hungry, confident and brilliant at its core. Next on to Atletico Madrid, #KTBFFH dear blues."
Anurag Khare shared similar feelings, talking of how Conte's Chelsea looks and feels different to any of our teams in the past. "On a night when Stoke played well, we managed to score 4 and keep a clean sheet.
Conte's Chelsea is different. Results are positive but football on field is quite different. And that is what makes the big difference. We are not predictable and thus lethal. After so many years, we literally ruled the night at Stoke."
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