Marcos Alonso receives post-match treatment for bruised ankle, dignity

Chelsea took the lead against Stoke City on Saturday via a Gary Cahill header from a Cesc Fàbregas corner — the first of three leads taken on Saturday, only the third of which Chelsea did finally hang onto — but on the same play, left wing-back Marcos Alonso appeared to injure his right ankle.

It’s unclear if he did it all by himself by, for example, landing wrong, or if he got accidentally trod on as several people hurled their bodies at the delivery, but the end result was that he stayed down for several minutes and received treatment on the sidelines.

Conte was less than happy with Alonso at the time — he was already annoyed with Marcos for pulling out of a 50-50 challenge just prior to the goal — and for a short while, it looked like the defender’s day might be ending early.

But Alonso soldiered on, all the way through the 90 minutes and into the treatment room. Hopefully it’s nothing that can’t be fixed by a little TLC from the Chelsea medical staff.

There’s no word if Alonso received any treatment for the bruising he got from Stone Cold Bobby Madley however.

But a few strategic hugs and celebrations probably helped.