Chelsea vs. Stoke City: Score and Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

Chelsea stretched their Premier League win streak to 13 straight matches on Saturday, beating Stoke City 4-2 in an entertaining match at Stamford Bridge.

Gary Cahill gave the hosts the lead with a powerful header, but Bruno Martins Indi tied things up early in the second half. A Willian brace either side of a Peter Crouch goal made it 3-2, and Diego Costa secured the win for the league-leaders.

As shared by Chelsea’s official Twitter account, Costa returned from suspension, while Cesc Fabregas started in midfield:

Here’s how Chelsea line up today… #CHESTK pic.twitter.com/TMDpOnCpTL

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 31, 2016

The visitors weren’t expected to trouble Chelsea much, but they started the match with plenty of attacking intentions and managed to put pressure on manager Antonio Conte’s squad.

The Blues had the first real chance of the match, however, as Eden Hazard cut inside and fired a shot wide of the post. N’Golo Kante followed his lead, but he couldn’t keep his effort on target, either.

Stoke threatened with a series of free-kicks, but Thibaut Courtois and David Luiz positioned themselves well to deal with the danger. On the other side of the pitch, Fabregas picked out Costa with a fantastic cross, and the Spain international nearly beat Lee Grant with a nifty move.

Cahill tested Grant for the first time with a powerful header, a sign of things to come, and Chelsea started getting more of a grip on the match as the half wore on. The Potters still threatened on occasion, however, with Xherdan Shaqiri firing a shot over the bar after a smart free-kick routine.

Crouch only just failed to connect with a corner kick following some confusion inside the Blues’ box, and Luiz …

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