Chelsea 1 - Stoke City 0: Initial Reaction And Community Ratings Form

I doubt there were too many fans out there that got overly excited about how open the play would be when Stoke City came to Stamford Bridge, and sure enough it was a relatively dull affair. Chelsea managed to come out on top though, as Ashley Cole found the back of the net with less than ten minutes to play. Here's a few thoughts in the immediate aftermath:

• The first half was pretty typical Stoke football. Chelsea dominated the ball, Stoke defended, Stoke looked scary on set pieces.