We Ain't Got No History - 2015-16 Premier League, Match 29: Chelsea vs. Stoke CityChampions of Europe!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52884/21_SBN_002_We_Aint_Got_No_History_Favicon_32x32..png2016-03-07T19:02:47+00:00http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/rss/stream/109297652016-03-07T19:02:47+00:002016-03-07T19:02:47+00:00Hiddink sets PL record with 12 in a row unbeaten
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<p>It might not feel like it, but Saturday's 1-1 draw against <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/stoke-city" class="sbn-auto-link">Stoke City</a> was actually a record-breaking achievement for <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> interim manager Guus Hiddink. It was his 12th Premier League match in charge of Chelsea after Jose Mourinho's sacking and it was his 12th Premier League match without a loss to start his spell as manager. Granted, Hiddink had already been Chelsea boss once, back in 2009, but I suppose the count resets when you start a new spell. Either way, 12 matches unbeaten is a new Premier League record!</p>
<p>Here's <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3480375/Chelsea-boss-Guus-Hiddink-breaks-Premier-League-record-man-steer-12-games-unbeaten.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490">a table from the<i> Daily Mail</i></a> with the details:</p>
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<p><i>(Not sure why there's a comma between 'Jose' and 'Mourinho'...)</i></p>
<p>Famously, Hiddink had lost only once in 22 matches in charge during his first spell, but the 1-0 reverse against Luka Modric and <a href="https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Tottenham Hotspur</a> came in his fifth Premier League match back then. This time around, we're still unbeaten after a dozen, though Chelsea did suffer a 2-1 loss against PSG in the first leg of Champions League Round of 16 a couple weeks ago.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, none of the sources I could find reveal what might be the record for longest unbeaten run for a new manager in the top flight of English football, which, contrary to modern day attitudes, did exist before the advent of the Premier League.</p>
<p>Still, well done Guus & Chelsea! Would be nice to have a few more wins (Chelsea have won only 5 of the 12), but this will have to do.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/7/11174032/guus-hiddink-12-matches-unbeaten-recordDavid Pasztor2016-03-07T06:54:21+00:002016-03-07T06:54:21+00:00Chelsea vs. Stoke City: Player Ratings
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<figcaption>Mike Hewitt/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<b>1. BERTRAND TRAORÉ </b>- FC</td>
<td style="width: 50px; height: 50px; vertical-align: middle; font-size: 30px; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black;"><i>7.1</i></td>
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<span class="statwords">Minutes played</span><span><b>68</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Touches</span><span><b>22</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Passes</span><span><b>13/16</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Shots</span><span><b>1*/2</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Aerial duels</span><span><b>2/4</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Tackles</span><span><b>2</b></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Bit of a slim pickings for this match, though I suppose Traoré's goal and just the fact that he finally got a couple starts after all this time of everyone calling for him to get a few starts is worth the 7+ alone. And to be sure, that was a really nice goal.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">That 7.1 was the highest rating really speaks to the overall disappointing nature of the game. Only six matches have had a lower rating for the eventual Man of the Match, and five of those were losses. The two lowest (both 6.4) came in Mourinho's final two losses, really underlining the bad mood around the club at the time.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Still, these are (mostly) happier days and well done Bertrand. More of the same and better, please, whenever you get to play next.</div>
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<b>2. GARY CAHILL </b>- DC</td>
<td style="width: 50px; height: 50px; vertical-align: middle; font-size: 30px; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black;"><i>6.8</i></td>
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<span class="statwords">Minutes played</span><span><b>90</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Touches</span><span><b>44</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Passes</span><span><b>26/30</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Shots</span><span><b>1/2</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Aerial duels</span><span><b>4/6</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Clearances</span><span><b>4/5</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Block+INT+RECs</span><span><b>8</b></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">One of the bigger patterns that has developed over the 3+ season history of the WAGNH player ratings is that when a performance has been poor or uninspiring, the player ratings podium will tend to be filled with goalkeepers and the usual steady performers. <span>Gary Cahill</span> is the ultimate steady performer of this <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a> squad. (Well, actually it's César Azpilicueta who's usuallyñ the ultimate steady performer, but he's been markedly less steady this season than normal.)</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">So here's Cahill with a 6.8 in second place. Nothing to write home about, nothing to get excited about. It's just Cahill. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgXAt_gstcs">No tell, no smell</a>, Cahill.</div>
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<b>3. THIBAUT COURTOIS </b>- GK</td>
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<span class="statwords">Minutes played</span><span><b>90</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Touches</span><span><b>51</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Passes</span><span><b>25/34</b></span>
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<span class="statwords">Saves</span><span><b>4</b></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Goalkeepers and steady performers, as mentioned above. So here's the goalkeeper.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Courtois was rather unfortunate to concede that goal to Mame Biram Diouf, but in fairness, Diouf should've had a couple others that were basically harder to miss than to score but he missed them anyway.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">More concerning than anything specific with Thibaut is the fact that we're having a very hard time keeping clean sheets, which is a team thing. It's now 7 games on the bounce with at least 1 conceded, though only PSG managed more than the solitary strike. Chelsea only have 13 for the whole season (out of 42 competitive games), which is shockingly low.</div>
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<p><i>STARTERS:</i><br>Courtois (<b>6.5</b>), Baba (<b>6.1</b>), Ivanović (<b>6.5</b>), Cahill (<b>6.8</b>), Azpilicueta (<b>6.4</b>), Matić (<b>5.8</b>), Mikel (<b>6.1</b>), Hazard (<b>6.2</b>), Oscar (<b>5.5</b>), Willian (<b>6.3</b>), Traoré (<b>7.1</b>)</p>
<p><i>SUBS:</i><br>Loftus-Cheek (<b>5.8</b>), Rémy (<b>4.6</b>), Fàbregas (<b>5.7</b>)</p>
<p><i>OVERALL:</i><br> <a href="https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6153293/Untitled.0.png"> <figure class="e-image">
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https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/7/11171588/chelsea-vs-stoke-city-player-ratings-man-of-the-matchDavid Pasztor2016-03-06T21:51:03+00:002016-03-06T21:51:03+00:00Hiddink: Hard work in training will be rewarded
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<figcaption>Mike Hewitt/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Meritocracy and earning first-team chances through training — it's a line of thinking we had heard form Mourinho several times as well, but we never really seemed to bear witness to it actually working in action. And while Hiddink hasn't exactly been giving out minutes willy-nilly to the youngsters either, he has shown willingness to play at least some of them some of the time, and sometimes even in important situations. Leading the charge for Guus is young Bertrand Traoré, who scored his fourth goal in five appearances on Saturday.</p>
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<p>"You see in parts of the game that he has quality. He has shown that already when he has come on."</p>
<p>"It's a little bit different when you start at Stamford Bridge from the beginning. You can see he has quality but young players have to try to control and dominate their nerves and you could see that at the beginning. But he showed with the goal that he has the capacity to do a lot."</p>
<p>"The strikers compete amongst themselves in a healthy way. If they show what they do in training then it will be rewarded."</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">-Guus Hiddink; source: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3479062/Bertand-Traore-shown-quality-training-rewarded-Stoke-start-says-Chelsea-boss-Guus-Hiddink.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490">Mail</a></p>
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<p>The first 15 or so minutes were probably Traoré's worst in a Chelsea shirt, but he settled down ("dominated his nerves") and was able to make positive contributions, including his well-taken goal that for some time looked good enough for all three points. While that didn't quite come to pass (and the poor play of Traoré's replacement, the veteran Loïc Rémy may have played a part in that), the 20-year-old was still happy with his goal and the opportunities give to him.</p>
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<p>"I took the decision to turn and shoot and it was on target, it was a great shot, so I'm happy with it. Of course we wanted to take the three points and they scored a late equaliser, so it feels like a defeat, but we have to keep our heads up for Wednesday's game."</p>
<p>"As young players they are big opportunities for us. We have to push, knock on the door and work hard in training. Every player wants to be in the starting 11 every week. I've had the chance to start two games in a row so I'm very happy with that and I have to keep training well."</p>
<p>"From now we have to stay focused, go into training and get everything in place for Wednesday."</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">-Bertrand Traoré; source: <a href="http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2016/03/traore--keep-our-heads-up.html">Chelsea FC</a></p>
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<p>Diego Costa is expected to be back in the starting lineup for Wednesday's match against PSG, but with Rémy struggling and Pato still a complete unknown quantity, Traoré might just get a chance to wow us once again with an important contribution.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/6/11169948/bertrand-traore-chelsea-chances-guus-hiddinkDavid Pasztor2016-03-05T21:00:11+00:002016-03-05T21:00:11+00:00Fans pay tribute to Chelsea legend Peter Osgood with huge banner<h3 class="link-title"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/RickGlanvill/status/706131900457422848">Fans pay tribute to Chelsea legend Peter Osgood with huge&nbsp;banner</a></h3>
<div class="description"><p><p>Quality work by the Shed End.</p></p></div>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/5/11166696/fans-pay-tribute-to-chelsea-legend-peter-osgood-with-huge-bannerDavid Pasztor2016-03-05T20:42:30+00:002016-03-05T20:42:30+00:00JT expected to miss PSG tie; Costa should be back
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<figcaption>Clive Mason/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>While it made sense for <span>Diego Costa</span> to finally get a rest this weekend, after 13 straight starts and with crucial games coming up this week in the Champions League and the FA Cup, his absence from the starting lineup and even the substitutes bench was surprising. Guus Hiddink, after all, was very clear that Costa wanted to play and all but wrote him into the starting lineup already for Saturday's game against <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/stoke-city" class="sbn-auto-link">Stoke City</a>. So what happened?</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Guus Hiddink reports Diego Costa is missing today due to a minor tendon injury. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFC?src=hash">#CFC</a></p>
— <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> FC (@ChelseaFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/706119898230099968">March 5, 2016</a>
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<p>A conveniently timed injury? Another concerning turn of events? The proverbial leash to force Diego to take the day off? Mind games out of PSG manager Laurent Blanc's books?</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Am told the resting of Diego Costa is due to a tendon injury. More precautionary, ahead of PSG, than a major issue.</p>
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) <a href="https://twitter.com/danlevene/status/706122967869202434">March 5, 2016</a>
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<p>After the match, manager Guus Hiddink wasn't concerned. Just a precaution.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hiddink on Costa: "I think he will be OK on Wednesday." Says he was left out today as a precaution, due to a tight tendon.</p>
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) <a href="https://twitter.com/danlevene/status/706171052532097024">March 5, 2016</a>
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<p>So that's good news. Unfortunately, things are looking less positive for <span>John Terry</span>, whose hamstring injury is expected to continue keeping him sidelined.</p>
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<p>"John Terry, I don't think he will be ready to be play, but the rest are fit to play I think."</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">-Guus Hiddink; source: Sky via <a href="http://www.goal.com/en-my/news/3904/champions-league/2016/03/06/21028612/hiddink-expects-terry-to-miss-psg-clash-costa-to-be-fit">Goal</a></p>
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<p>Prior to the match, the story was that Terry would undergo some sort of fitness test to determine his availability for PSG. Now, it sounds like Hiddink is far less optimistic. Hopefully our defense manages to cope with Zlatan Ibrahimovic better than with Mame Biram Diouf, who should've hat a hat-trick on Saturday. Hush, let me hope.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/5/11166548/injury-news-chelsea-diego-costa-john-terry-psgDavid Pasztor2016-03-05T18:01:00+00:002016-03-05T18:01:00+00:00Below-par Chelsea draw 1-1 against Stoke
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<p>We were dreaming of Chelsea making a late run to snatch fourth place from the jaws of despair. It's all right to admit it to hoping; we're all friends here. Well, except for Marks Hughes and Clattenburg*, who took umbrage to any of that namby-pamby crap and conspired to kick our collective dream like they were Phil Bardsley around a real footballer. The Blues' three-game winning run is gone, and focus moves away from the Premier League once more.</p>
<p><em>*It's obviously unbecoming to moan about the referee. Unbecoming like Clattenburg's bad refereeing.</em></p>
<p>Not that Guus Hiddink wanted any part of our fantasies anyway. Chelsea host Paris Saint-Germain in midweek and after that comes an FA Cup quarterfinal at Goodison Park. Since wins in those matches would represent progress towards actual silverware, Hiddink prioritised accordingly, fielding Bertrand Traore in Diego Costa's spot and deploying The Midfield of Incredible Sadness in John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic. A full-strength side this was not.</p>
<p>If someone was to show this year's version of Matic to a Chelsea fan from two years ago, they might assume he was bravely playing through some hideously debilitating disease. The player who signed from Benfica was assured, strong, reasonably quick and always in the right place. This version couldn't get the ball off Gianni Imbula if Imbula was blindfolded and tied to a chair, and (let's ignore the assist) seemed to gain some perverse joy in delivering hospital passes to his teammates. And perhaps Matic was contagious, because Mikel was a bit crap too.</p>
<p>Chelsea's problems getting the ball through midfield meant that the best they could do for a while was to hit and hope. That actually nearly worked shortly after kickoff when Branislav Ivanovic hammered a ball to the wing for Cesar Azpilicueta to cross first-time to Traore, but the youngster mistimed his volley and let Stoke escape.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Potters weren't looking particularly scary on the attack. Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic were causing the fullbacks some distress, certainly, but when everyone was back defending said distress didn't really translate to chances. It actually took Chelsea waking up for Stoke to look genuinely scary.</p>
<p>Committing everyone forward and then losing the ball is a great way to get torched on the counterattack, and had Mame Biraf Diouf been <s>more clinical</s> at all clinical with his finishing the Blues might have found themselves 2-0 behind. First Ibrahim Affelay sacrificed his fingers to play a magnificent curving cross at the striker only to watch him turn the ball harmlessly wide, then he did basically the same thing when Shaqiri found him unmarked just after the half-hour mark.</p>
<p>The Blues had come weak finishing to thank for it remaining 0-0 but hadn't carved out any serious chances of their own when Traore opened the scoring virtually out of nowhere. Found by Matic in the middle of the pitch, the youngster was allowed to turn, advance on goal and then unleash a blistering shot just inside Jack Butland's far post. The last few games have been extraordinary for the Burkinabe, and this was the best moment of the lot.</p>
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<img alt="Chelsea v Stoke City - Premier League" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GT7oz28BKrFB7YQswcKTpDmOeHs=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6148499/513864354.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images</cite>
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<p>Chelsea relaxed after the goal and more or less cruised their way to halftime, at which point the game reset itself and left the Blues stuck in their own half while Stoke failed to get much of anything going. The visitors were playing well, but the final ball was cut out time and time again -- the only real chance they had at an early equaliser came when Shaqiri sliced his way through midfield with a diagonal run and forced Thibaut Courtois to tip behind.</p>
<p>Slowly but surely, Chelsea began to exert themselves, this time doing their best to prevent the Potters from counterattacking at will. That mostly worked up until two pivotal moments, both involving Oscar.</p>
<p>It's not entirely clear to me how a rugby tackle in the box <em>isn't</em> a penalty. Oscar certainly thought it was, having been quite wrestled down by Marc Muniesa as the defender clumsily tried to turn a dangerous attack into a goal kick. Clattenburg was having none of it, deeming a jump on the back with no hope of getting near the ball a perfectly legal move. That's definitely going to come back to bite someone when Kurt Zouma gets healthy again.</p>
<p>Oscar also did his best to get Erik Pieters sent off. Having won a yellow card off the left back early in the second half, he baited him into another bad foul when Azpilicueta fed him on the right wing. Unfortunately, the cards stayed pocketed, and Pieters remained on the pitch.</p>
<p>Those decisions weren't the reason Stoke were able to get back into the match -- the goal was cheerily self-inflicted -- but they certainly helped. Chelsea did have chances to put the game to bed, but being Chelsea they spurned them. Strikers (we'll forgive Traore, considering his goal) sat back rather than attack crosses. Certain reigning Premier League Players of the Season who'll go unnamed couldn't really be bothered shooting or taking players on. It was all a bit dire.</p>
<p>And then with five minutes left the visitors scored. Willian, one of the few blameless so far this year, was just inside his own half when he tried to dribble his way between two Stoke players and lost possession. Everyone else was pushing up the pitch, expecting Willian to start an attack, so the defence was off-balance as Stoke countered, leaving them wide open. Shaqiri fizzed in a cross, Courtois jumped out in an attempt to cut it off before it reach Arnautovic in the centre and naturally his punch went straight to Diouf, who headed in to make it 1-1.</p>
<p>Bojan nearly won for Stoke it at the death when Chelsea adopted the unorthodox defensive strategy of letting an opposing player do whatever he wanted, but somehow the ball stayed out, leaving our long unbeaten run, if not our pride, intact.</p>
<p>On the plus side, a) we're not getting relegated so the league doesn't really matter and b) we successfully rested players for midweek. We'll have to do better than this showing against PSG, but stranger things have happened.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/5/11166086/chelsea-vs-stoke-final-score-match-reportGraham MacAree2016-03-05T16:51:36+00:002016-03-05T16:51:36+00:00Chelsea 1 - Stoke City 1: React and rate
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<figcaption>Mike Hewitt/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Chelsea appeared to have Saturday's match against <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/stoke-city" class="sbn-auto-link">Stoke City</a> won, with Bertrand Traore's first half strike being the lone goal of the first 80 minutes. As has been the case far too often this season, though, the Blues couldn't hang on to a match they seemed to have all but wrapped up, giving up a late equalizer, and dropping yet another two points at home.</p>
<p>As far as the overall picture is concerned, the disappointing draw probably doesn't mean a whole lot, as the Blues weren't making the top four this season anyway. Still, it would have been nice to keep the winning streak alive, in addition to the unbeaten Premier League run.</p>
<p>Thoughts:</p>
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<li><span>Traore was terrible for most of the first half, and then scored an absolutely beautiful goal. Huh.</span></li>
<li><span>It was nice to see <span>Ruben Loftus-Cheek</span> getting minutes, again. This Guus sure does believe in the youth, doesn't he?</span></li>
<li><span>So much for <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea's</a> luck on penalty calls changing for the better. Muniesa's tackle of Oscar in the 71st minute was one of the easiest penalty calls a referee should ever have, and somehow Mark Clattenburg missed it. </span></li>
<li>Baba Rahman didn't make any glaring mistakes on Saturday, and assuming both he and Kenedy are healthy for the PSG match on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see who Hiddink selects at left back.</li>
<li>I'm honestly beginning to doubt that Alexandre Pato is ever going to make an appearance for the Blues. To be honest, I don't really care, one way or the other.</li>
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https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/5/11165686/chelsea-vs-stoke-city-premier-league-initial-reaction-result-rating-formStephen Schmidt2016-03-05T15:50:57+00:002016-03-05T15:50:57+00:00Chelsea vs. Stoke City: Second half thread
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<figcaption>Clive Mason/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A fairly even match so far, with both sides creating a couple decent chances and both sides making several silly errors. <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a>, especially seemed to be specializing in giving the ball away with underhit passes and poor touches on check-tos. We eventually kicked that habit, but are sorely missing a Fabregas to help distribute the ball. Also missing is a <span>Diego Costa</span> up front; young Bertrand Traoré's not having much success in his first start at center forward unfortunately.</p>
<p>AND THEN HE PULLS THAT MAGNIFICENT GOAL OFF. Sometimes, all it takes is one moment of brilliance. Elsewhere, <span>Eden Hazard</span> looks up for it (minus the shooting); Oscar doesn't quite but at least he is shooting; Willian's back to doing a lot of transition work with Fabregas rested.</p>
<p>On the flip side, our midfield looks weak once again (paging Nemanja Matic; Nemanja Matic to the 2015-16 season please!) and we've gotten lucky that Mame Biram Diouf is a terrible finisher. He probably should have two goals off of two excellent Stoke counters. Not exactly confidence-inspiring, our defense at the moment.</p>
<p>But, it's 1-0 to the good guys. And in the end, that's all that matters. 45 minutes to go to see this out, though I'd be surprised if there weren't more goals.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2016/3/5/11165638/chelsea-vs-stoke-city-premier-league-half-time-reportDavid Pasztor