One of the easiest Premier League games that Chelsea will ever have, to sum up just how difficult life is for the under-pressure Mark Hughes at the moment. The champions thrashed Stoke City 5-0 and the only surprise was that it wasn’t one of those truly humiliating scorelines – a seven, eight or even nine – that could really have made the visiting manager’s position untenable. It really was that bad.
The one caveat was that this was a makeshift Stoke XI that seemed to be picked with more winnable matches in mind, given that there was no Xherdan Shaqiri or Peter Crouch, and that was why it didn’t matter in the slightest that Antonio Conte had also decided to rest Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas.
The decision with the Belgian might have raised a few eyebrows given how it came the day after his father so willingly talked up a move to Real Madrid, and it could even be light-heartedly stated this vibrant attacking performance was an attempt to prepare for life after his departure, but that would be reading far too much in for it. Hazard was on the bench to keep him fresh, and Stoke were so bad that it was difficult to really tell how good Chelsea actually were.
The champions were in impressively rampant and ravenous mood, all at the same, and showed as much with a goal after just two minutes and 30 seconds. Willian was given the time to cross, and Antonio Rudiger was given the free space to pick out the corner with a header.
The one caveat was that this was a makeshift Stoke XI that seemed to be picked with more winnable matches in mind, given that there was no Xherdan Shaqiri or Peter Crouch, and that was why it didn’t matter in the slightest that Antonio Conte had also decided to rest Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas.
The decision with the Belgian might have raised a few eyebrows given how it came the day after his father so willingly talked up a move to Real Madrid, and it could even be light-heartedly stated this vibrant attacking performance was an attempt to prepare for life after his departure, but that would be reading far too much in for it. Hazard was on the bench to keep him fresh, and Stoke were so bad that it was difficult to really tell how good Chelsea actually were.
The champions were in impressively rampant and ravenous mood, all at the same, and showed as much with a goal after just two minutes and 30 seconds. Willian was given the time to cross, and Antonio Rudiger was given the free space to pick out the corner with a header.
