Gary Cahill goal v Stoke City - from the stand

https://twitter.com/ushafiq1993/status/843170351588827136/video/1

On train home and I'm still buzzing about beating those dirty bar stewards, kicking our players all over the place, with a ref who was such a homer it was untrue...went nuts for that cahill goal...another kick in the bollox for those that think they can catch us...maximum of 21 points required from 10 games...come on you blues...

by the way, can chelsea please invest in hiring a plane with a banner to fly over the arse, saying they want wenger to stay...doing a great job as far as I'm concerned

Surely, that had to be the softest penalty awarded this season? Can't ever see us getting a decision like that.

33 minutes ago, BelgradeCFC said:

Gary Cahill goal v Stoke City - from the stand

 

 

Since losing to Arsenal

59 points from a possible 66 in the Premier League.

Edited March 18, 20179 yr by Scott

The team on and off the field knew how big a three  points this was. The work needs to continue, what I'd like though now is for us to be relentless and smash the 95 pts. This would cement the new era.

 

Champions of course on its own would be nice.

1 hour ago, The Brit said:

we want wenger to stay

I guess the WBA fans were singing that tune as well

Just seen MOTD and i know this is trivial but why do camera's constantly zoom in on Conte when we concede goals? They did it today and the reverse fixture, Swansea both times, Burnley, Spurs both times, all 3 occasions at The Emirates, 

Enjoyed the way Antonio in his post-match interview spoke of a 10-point lead, he corrected himself to say 'well, now a 13-point lead' but he's clearly operating from a standpoint of Spuds + City winning all of their remaining games. The man doesn't do slacking off, it's simply not in his managerial DNA. Case in point Juve's three-figure points total one season, it's not entirely inconceivable that a transfer-strengthened third-season Conte Chelsea team could pull off a similar feat.

He has an 80% win percentage in the league thus far, that's practically unheard of for a debut managerial season in England.

Edited March 18, 20179 yr by Charles Ryder

1 hour ago, Zero said:

Surely, that had to be the softest penalty awarded this season? Can't ever see us getting a decision like that.

Agreed, all Cahill did was put his hand on the players back and he's gone down, or slipped, pundits on MOTD said as much. Cahill takes his fair share of stick and these decisions don't help, still he never gives up and you have to admire his passion.

Edited March 19, 20179 yr by Floyd25

to give away a penalty but then go up and grab a winning goal is top notch footballing

1 hour ago, Argo said:

Just seen MOTD and i know this is trivial but why do camera's constantly zoom in on Conte when we concede goals? They did it today and the reverse fixture, Swansea both times, Burnley, Spurs both times, all 3 occasions at The Emirates, 

That match of the day commentator for our game was appalling...just sounded pissed off that chelsea won again and concentrated more on 'Costa's crimes', than the fact Stoke kicked the sh*t out of him and the others all day..

So, so true...Arsenal fans are a joy to watch

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/FootyIndxTRADER/status/843111058013339648/video/1

Edited March 19, 20179 yr by The Brit

Today was the performance of champions and what it takes to be champions. We showed immense discipline in not reacting to the thuggery that Mark Hughes instills in his teams. When they know they can't beat a side on footballing merits alone, their best chance of getting a result is to kick seven bells of sh*t out of the opposition in the hope that they will react and be reduced to 10 or even 9 men. This could easily have happened today with the likes of Costa, Pedro or Luiz, but our players reacted with a calm head and a steady heart and knew the best way to react was simply to play your football and beat Neanderthal man with simple footballing ability and a footballing brain, two key elements that Stoke lack in abundance. I feared for Costa after his yellow, but AC obviously got through to him at halftime, because despite continued provocation in the second half, he was superb in his overall play, and his mindset was spot on.

Whatever AC has done to this squad since the Emirates is nothing short of miraculous, but the man is clearly something unique, no shouting and screaming at the media, no blaming anyone else when things have gone wrong, just quietly going about his job of getting the best out of his team under any given circumstance or environment. I've been Chelsea since I was 8 years old, I'm 63 next September, and I can only remember 2 other managers with a similar demeanor getting similar results from their teams, Dave Sexton and Carlo Ancelotti. Two legendary managers who are hopefully about to joined by a third.

This win is still reverberating, perhaps is the thugs tried to rile and wind us up. 

The penalty give was pathetic and Cahill's redemption - just.

I can say I am definitely looking forward to our home game which unfortunately is 2 weeks away!

Forgot to mention the sheer delight of jeering that sorry excuse for a footballer in bardsley after he was sent off...the kind of player that makes you think you could have made it in the pro game...just a thug with boots on...we certainly let him know what we thought of him as he made sorry walk past...prick

This was a game I always feared we would drop points. I predicted a draw, as stoke are no mugs at home.

overall, we looked good and even without hazard we got the job done. 

Cahill made up for giving a stupid penalty away. 

Also loftus cheek looked pretty impressive when he came on. He had a real chance to score.

anyway let's now take it one game at a time 

4 hours ago, BelgradeCFC said:

Gary Cahill goal v Stoke City - from the stand

https://twitter.com/ushafiq1993/status/843170351588827136/video/1

Great reminder of the passion of that winner...to be honest, I missed so much cos I was just losing my sh*t with the people around me...love seeing Costa's passion at that goal and genuinely enjoying it with gas caz...still gives me hope he might stick around after all...may have dips in form, maybe a dick at times but he wouldn't be a bloody tough forward to replace

Every manager in the league will try and get Costa fired up. That's not there fault, why shouldn't they try and do that? 

People can't really criticize Stoke for there tactics. They don't have better players, they don't play better football so they have to make the game as difficult as possibe. All he moaning but did anyone think it was really going to be any other way? Thats what makes going to Stoke such a difficult place to play and shows how well Chelsea did to get the 3 points. At one point Stoke only had one shot which was the pen.

Winning at Stoke sorts the men from the boys and is what makes Champions. Its happened all the time from going to Bolton, Blackburn and even West Ham in the past. 

8 hours ago, Scott said:

Since losing to Arsenal

59 points from a possible 66 in the Premier League.

That hardly seemed possible that depressing day. I still have to pinch myself 

8 hours ago, Argo said:

Just seen MOTD and i know this is trivial but why do camera's constantly zoom in on Conte when we concede goals? They did it today and the reverse fixture, Swansea both times, Burnley, Spurs both times, all 3 occasions at The Emirates, 

I haven't seen MOTD yet, sitting ready for the Sunday morning repeat. But it's probably for a simple reason: Conte ears his heart on his sleeve, so the tv director expects a show from him 

Ah, repeat of the Arse defeat now, another pleasant show 

Still massively buzzing, what a game to win in that manner, the mentality and never say die attitude running through the team.

I know Stoke had their tactics, but I really hate when refs just allow players to constantly kick out and foul the way they were. Personally the ref should make sure early doors that going in that physical is not acceptable; going for the ball I understand but going for the man is just a scummy move in any football game.

Anyway, they are the games that win you the league, so happy that we showed our mettle and got the 3 points.

7 hours ago, The Brit said:

That match of the day commentator for our game was appalling...just sounded pissed off that chelsea won again and concentrated more on 'Costa's crimes', than the fact Stoke kicked the sh*t out of him and the others all day..

I've now seen MOTD, and I felt the commentator was very flat the entire match, not only for the winning goal, but for Stoke's equaliser as well. 

A tough match. A very important win.

Will watch the MOTD highlights again later. Oh and will also watch the West Brom v Arsenal ones too...