Chelsea’s Premier League humiliation continued at the Britannia with a 1-0 defeat to Stoke City earlier this morning.
With manager Jose Mourinho banned from watching the match inside the stadium, the reigning champions fell to a seventh defeat of the season, worse than any other team defending a championship in the top-tier’s history.
A cagey opening to the contest saw both sides exhibiting their physicality when trying to gain control of the ball, yet Chelsea’s smooth passing and forward movement into space soon took the upper-hand. But while the reigning champions looked good heading-up to the 18-yard area, a serious lack of targets in front of goal saw few chances materialise. The Potters had a few chances on the counter as Xherdan Shaqiri gave Baba Rahman constant headaches, yet the blue numbers in the defensive-third kept the deadlock intact at the break.
Perhaps due to the ‘Special One’s’ absence in the dressing room, the Chelsea team which remerged on the field did not have the same intentions immediately in the second-half and Stoke would take the lead soon after, Marko Arnautovic finishing a dipping cross from Glen Johnson with acrobatic volley into the near-post on the hour-mark. Once again chasing a desperately-needed three points, a late surge of pressure from the visitors created what were probably the best chances to score of the match in the late stages, yet a mix of misfortune and profligacy saw Stoke hold on to the very-narrow 1-0 scoreline.
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