Chelsea gave a thoroughly professional performance to bounce back from the horrible week that they had endured before. After a very tense build-up to this game, when it seemed that Chelsea are losing momentum at the business end of the season, it was for the team to perform at their best and get the result against Stoke that still keep hopes of the title alive for them.
Jose Mourinho chose to rest his two talismanic attackers Eden Hazard and Oscar today as he chose to give Mohamed Salah his first start at Right Midfield and started Andre Schurrle in the left, meaning Willian was chosen to play behind Fernando Torres, who has been heavily criticized for below-par performances in the past week, and for most part of his Chelsea career.
A lot depended on Nemanja Matic starting alongside veteran Frank Lampard. And a typical Mourinho style of management meant that there was no change in the back-four. Stoke City were always expected to be solid and organized in their defence but there was no counter-attacking threat from them usually, which led to the safe inclusion of Frank Lampard into the starting line-up. Matic, who has proved to be the heartbeat for Chelsea’s midfield was expected to match Stoke City’s physicality.
Here is a look at Mohamed Salah’s number of passes completed and the action areas he was involved with.
The game started at a slow pace, both teams having similar amount of possession and at times, it looked as if Chelsea were happy allowing Stoke City to pass slowly amongst their own defensive areas. Willian looked exceptionally sharp in his most influential position on the pitch as he was given the freedom by Mourinho to execute his natural flair and energy right in the heart of the creative zone. The support by Salah and Schurrle on the wings gave Chelsea some good width as both were traditional wingers, despite that, crossing was never in the agenda as much as shooting was, as both wingers were positioned in such a manner that they would prefer to move the ball to their stronger foot by cutting in.
Willian orchestrated the game for Chelsea’s midfield. Meanwhile, Stoke City found unwanted possession in the first half. It is somewhat tough for a team which are built to defend, when they have to play the ball amongst themselves. Chelsea’s pressing was also very calculative and well worked out as Schurrle and Salah pressed from the wings but Willian waited behind in the centre to break counters or intercept.
The tactics of Stoke City were pretty straight forward to say the least. They had an in-form striker in Peter Odemwingie playing wide while the constant aerial threat of Crouch lurked around the Chelsea penalty box. But despite that, Stoke were not prepared to create chances as the line-up was very defensive. With Wilson Palacios, a traditional defensive midfielder starting, which he does in most big away games, they lacked the cutting edge in creativity when so much unexpected possession was granted to them in the first half.
Mark Hughes looked to change these things by bringing in their most creative player Charlie Adam to complement Arnautovic and provide some decent link-up play for Odemwingie. Also came Andy Wilkinson at half time for Geoff Cameron for the right back spot.
Both substitutions failed to have a positive impact. In fact it was Wilkinson’s blatant foul on Mohamed Salah in the penalty box that led to the second goal for the Blues. Charlie Adam being more offensive minded than Palacios meant that Willian had more space in the centre to work his magic with flair. It was Chelsea’s substitution at 58 minutes, bringing on star man Eden Hazard to have a run, which opened the game up for the Blues. Hazard came on for Schurrle, who was performing well with a direct approach. Blues saw a lot of creativity after the introduction of Eden Hazard, especially as he was looking to dribble instead of sprint, something which always increases the pressure on defenders.
With Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian on the score-sheet, Chelsea finally gathered some confidence, after breaking down a tough Stoke defence. Ahead of their crucial home game against PSG, Chelsea would have desperately wanted to give an assured and professional performance, with good number of goals in front of their home supporters. Stoke City were never expected to be a challenge for the defence, apart from set-pieces, but they were surely a good test for the attackers, and hence Willian and co. can draw some confidence and determination from this win.
Confidence would not be something that Fernando Torres would take with him as the Spaniard looked heavily under-confident and shy to shoot, despite putting a decent display in terms of movement and passing. When asked about Fernando, Mourinho dodged the main question but ended up saying that the team played well and Torres contributed to the team’s success today.
According to Squawka.com, Mohamed Salah is the man of the match, with contributions in all three goals as he scored and assisted one while also winning the penalty that led to the goal.
Stats via squawka