A fiery encounter between Stoke City and Chelsea at the bet365 Stadium was settle by Gary Cahill's strike three minutes from time.
Gary Cahill's 87th-minute effort sent Chelsea 13 points clear at the Premier League summit with a 2-1 victory over Stoke City in a tempestuous encounter at the bet365 Stadium.
Chelsea looked set to miss the chance to extend their advantage over the chasing pack, but Cahill atoned for giving away a penalty by pouncing after a tactical switch from Antonio Conte to pile more pressure on Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool - all of whom play on Sunday.
With the teams level after 70 minutes, Conte - who was without star forward Eden Hazard due to a reported muscle injury - changed his much-vaunted 3-4-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 and Chelsea responded by upping the pressure to force a late winner.
The Blues led after 13 minutes when Willian caught Lee Grant out with a near-post free-kick for his first top-flight goal since scoring a double in the reverse of this fixture in December.
After having a goal ruled out for Saido Berahino's shove on Cesar Azpilicueta, Stoke were awarded a soft penalty when Cahill pushed Johnathan Walters to ground - the forward slamming the spot-kick beyond Thibaut Courtois.
Marcos Alonso rattled the crossbar before Conte made his tactical move and it played out perfectly for the Italian thanks to Cahill's late intervention, while Stoke's misery was compounded when Phil Bardsley was sent off for a second bookable offence in second-half stoppage time.
Chelsea led early on after Willian's free-kick beat Grant, who dived down to his near post and got a hand to the ball but failed to stop it finding the back of the net.
The visitors' dominance continued unchecked and they should have moved two up in the 30th minute, Victor Moses scooping the ball into the box for Alonso, who drilled his shot straight at Grant.
Stoke thought they had equalised when Bruno Martins Indi headed home, but the goal was ruled out as Berahino - standing in an offside position - pushed Azpilicueta away from the ball.
The hosts did not have to wait long for another chance, though. Cahill sent Walters tumbling and referee Taylor pointed to the spot, the Republic of Ireland international drilling home the penalty himself.
Diego Costa was his usual fiery self and was involved in heated clashes with Ryan Shawcross and Bardsley before half-time, the latter earning a yellow card.
Tempers seemingly cooled during the break and Chelsea would have regained the lead in the 66th minute had the bar not come to Stoke's rescue by keeping Alonso's brilliantly struck 20-yard free-kick out.
Conte switched to a four-man defence by replacing Moses with Cesc Fabregas for the final 20 minutes and it was a move that paid dividends.
Chelsea upped the pressure and finally broke through when Erik Pieters followed up a lapse in concentration that gifted the visitors a corner by failing to clear David Luiz's header and Cahill thumped the loose ball home.
Stoke left gaps at the back as they pushed for an equaliser and Costa hit post before Ruben Loftus-Cheek was denied his first goal of the season in stoppage time.
Frustrations then boiled over for Bardsley, who was given a second booking for a clumsy foul on Fabregas, as Chelsea ground out a huge win in the race for the title.
Key Opta stats:
- Chelsea have lost only one of their last 22 Premier League games, winning 19 (D2).
- Gary Cahill is the first Chelsea player to score a goal and concede a penalty in a single Premier League game since Salomon Kalou against West Ham in April 2009.
- Eight of Willian's last 19 goals for Chelsea in all comps have been from direct free-kicks.
- Cesar Azpilicueta made his 150th Premier League appearance for Chelsea, becoming the first Spaniard to reach this milestone for the BluesMarch 18, 2017
Gary Cahill scored an 87th-minute winner to help Chelsea beat Stoke City 2-1 at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday and increase their lead at the top of the Premier League to 13 points.
Cahill was the central figure on the day after giving away a penalty in the first half that Stoke forward Jonathan Walters converted. Walters' goal evened things up after Willian had given Chelsea an early lead with a clever free-kick.
Pedro returned to the Chelsea lineup after missing the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United on Monday, per the club's official Twitter account:
Chelsea FC
@ChelseaFC
We're 30 mins away from kick-off! Here's a look at today's line-up... #STKCHE https://t.co/a3k6P9qRt4
Sat Mar 18 2017 15:29:17 GMT+0100 (WAT)
Meanwhile, the Potters included Saido Berahino up front:
Stoke City FC
@stokecity
📝 #SCFC Starting XI v @ChelseaFC: Grant; Bardsley, Shawcross, M. Indi, Pieters; Ramadan, Cameron, Allen, Arnautovic; Walters, Berahino. https://t.co/FsLTidojgx
Sat Mar 18 2017 15:00:08 GMT+0100 (WAT)
The league leaders went in front in less than 15 minutes after Willian deceived Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant with a crafty free-kick. Chelsea appeared to be coasting after that, routinely stringing together some excellent combinations in the final third.
In particular, Pedro was combining superbly with Diego Costa. However, the latter's fiery temperament saw him booked for dissent by referee Anthony Taylor, who proved a key figure seven minutes before the break.
Taylor deemed Cahill's challenge in the box to be worthy of a penalty. Walters gratefully tucked away the spot-kick to put the hosts back on level terms.
However, tempers were soon flaring again as Stoke consistently irked Costa, with the striker coming close to a fatal second booking more than once.
Costa survived until half-time, but Simon Johnson of the London Evening Standard felt Taylor was struggling to stay in command:
Simon Johnson
@sjstandardsport
Taylor is in danger of losing control of this match...looks flustered #CFC
Sat Mar 18 2017 16:42:02 GMT+0100 (WAT)
Chelsea reasserted their control after the break, with left-back Marcos Alonso striking the bar with a free-kick. Blues manager Antonio Conte also introduced Cesc Fabregas off the bench, and the Spanish playmaker helped make the visitors more of a threat between the lines.
With Fabregas dictating possession, Stoke were forced onto the back foot, as Pete Smith of The Sentinel pointed out:
Pete Smith
@PeteSmith1983
Geoff Cameron's heat map. Stoke digging deeper as they head towards last 10. https://t.co/cfZksavDgm https://t.co/oyI4fKPULz
Sat Mar 18 2017 17:37:21 GMT+0100 (WAT)
Things stayed deadlocked until Cahill made up for surrendering the penalty by putting Chelsea ahead with just three minutes to go. There was more late drama when Potters defender Phil Bardsley was shown a second yellow card after a bad tackle on Fabregas.
Stoke tried to press for an equaliser at the death, but the Blues held firm to take one more step toward what looks like an inevitable title win in Conte's first season in charge.
Post-Match Reaction
Conte commended Costa for keeping his focus while walking the disciplinary tightrope, per Chelsea's official website:
It is not simple to receive a yellow card after a few minutes but Diego has been showing this season, not only this game, to be very disciplined. He showed me great commitment and thought for the team, not only for himself, and I want this type of behaviour from my players.
...
It is normal for a team to try to make a player angry so he reacts and commits another foul, but the great news is Diego is showing to be a great player in this aspect because I know in the past he has sometimes not finished games.
Meanwhile, Potters manager Mark Hughes praised his side's efforts in a losing cause against the league leaders, per Stoke's official site: “We stood toe-to-toe with the Champions-elect this afternoon and we have run them really close,
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