Chelsea are approaching the time when magnanimity becomes that bit easier and there was plenty of it on display after a victory whose importance overrode its quality. José Mourinho and Didier Drogba were among those at pains to seek out Charlie Adam, whose astonishing 66-yard equaliser felt like the apex of a lifetime’s work, for congratulations and they could do so in the knowledge that a contribution from much closer in had again held off the prospect of a meaningful title race.
Loïc Rémy had attempted four shots inside the first 18 minutes, two of them expertly repelled by Asmir Begovic, but he had no need to duel with the Stoke goalkeeper shortly after the hour. Begovic, overenthusiastically heeding Mark Hughes’s earlier entreaty that his side play from the back, rolled a straight, telegraphed ball towards Steven Nzonzi that was touched by Willian to Eden Hazard and eventually squared for Rémy, in front of an unguarded goal, to make his second decisive intervention in as many games after his late winner last time out at Hull.
“He keeps himself in great condition, even without [having played] many minutes to be ready for us. He’s a great boy and his contribution is already crucial, with these two match-winners in the last two matches,” said Mourinho of Rémy, who was making only his fourth Premier League start for Chelsea. He should add to that number after Diego Costa’s latest injury mishap that resulted in him limping off 11 minutes after entering as a half-time substitute.
“Every striker has this in them, so today when Eden recovered the ball you could see immediately he sprinted to score what I call an easy goal but I love strikers to score easy goals. The tap-in when the goalkeeper has an incomplete save, attacking the ball on a low cross, rebounds – I love the easy goals from a striker.”
It was Rémy’s final touch before being replaced by Juan Cuadrado and a finish that belied the toughness of a game in which Chelsea generally spluttered. A compact four-man Stoke midfield was difficult to play through and continually forced Chelsea to concede possession cheaply. They opened the scoring after their most sustained period of first-half pressure, the exceptional Hazard beating Begovic from the penalty spot after Philipp Wollscheid had fouled Cesc Fàbregas, but the Spaniard and his midfield partner Nemanja Matic were otherwise subdued. That could be said for several other occasions of late but Mourinho has had no thoughts of altering his team’s balance at this stage of the season.
“For me, football is not just mathematics,” he said. “When some people write that Fàbregas drops his level because the number of assists are not the same, the number of assists is probably not the same because the player that he assists doesn’t score. I think he’s playing wonderfully well.
“I always think stability is very important in a team and it’s not in April that you are going to make important changes. April is a moment of stability and obviously I keep faith in the people that I have trusted from the beginning of the season.”
There was less slack given to the out-of-form Oscar, who was replaced by Costa at the interval after an opening period in which he dragged a clear chance wide and struggled to make any impact in possession. “I don’t think he had a bad performance, I just think he was not good enough, which is a huge difference,” Mourinho said.
Stoke, who nearly equalised for a second time when Nzonzi clipped a post from 25 yards, are playing with little pressure bar the desire for self-improvement, although a first-half exchange between Hughes and his midfielder Glenn Whelan served notice of their intention to make gains here.
“I felt we weren’t looking to play out from the back – we were allowing Asmir to just kick the ball long and it kept on coming back to us,” Hughes said. “I wanted us to get on the ball and control the game, and Glenn’s a big part of that. Glenn’s a senior player, it’s not a problem. I used to give dog’s abuse to my managers, it’s an emotional game.”
Adam, at least, showed the bravery Hughes values and was aware of the sense of theatre that his bolt from the blue shortly before half-time would create. “I don’t have the pace to go in behind, so I’ve seen an opening,” he said. “I’ve seen the goalkeeper off his line and I thought ‘why not do it at a place like Chelsea?’ It doesn’t matter where it is, I’ll try it. Today it came off.”
Man of the match Eden Hazard (Chelsea)