Chelsea 4-2 Stoke City: Willian brace helps Blues claim 13th win in a row - 5 things we learned

 A topsy-turvy clash saw stubborn Stoke twice equalise, but the sees Conte's men end 2016 on a high

Lucky for some: The Blues have made it 13 wins in a row (Photo: Seconds Left/REX/Shutterstock)

                           

    Chelsea survived a minor scare against Stoke to make it 13 Premier League wins in a row.

The Blues were pegged back twice by Stoke at Stamford Bridge before eventually running out comfortable winners.

Gary Cahill headed Chelsea in front after 34 minutes but Bruno Martins Indi levelled for Stoke just after the break.

Willian slammed in his first to put Chelsea back in front only for Peter Crouch to side foot in from close range to make it 2-2.

But Willian struck again a minute later to put Chelsea in front for the third time before Diego Costa put the game to bed in the 85th minute.

1. More history for Chelsea

Willian bagged a brace (Photo: Reuters)

                        

Another week, another landmark reached for Antonio Conte's history makers.

This victory over Stoke made it 13 league wins in a row. Unlucky for some but certainly not for Chelsea.

That equalled the top flight record for consecutive wins in the same season set by Preston and Sunderland in 1891-92 and matched by Arsenal in 2001-02.

Next up, Chelsea try to equal Arsenal's Premier League record 14 wins in row at Tottenham on Wednesday, though that was set over two seasons in 2002.

2. Chelsea pass another test

Cahill celebrates his opener (Photo: AFP/Getty)

                             

The questions keep being asked of Chelsea and they keep answering them emphatically.

In this 13-game winning run they have faced pretty much every type of challenge they could come up against and continued to secure victories.

This was another narrow win to go along with the ones against Middlesbrough, Tottenham, West Brom, Sunderland and Crystal Palace.

But the test this time was Chelsea's response to having their aura of invincibility genuinely punctured, albeit briefly.

Stoke became the first side to score twice against Chelsea since Arsenal in September, the pivotal game that sparked the formation change and winning run.

But the Blues are a different and significantly more resilient outfit now, dusted themselves down after conceding and hit back quickly before cruising to victory.

3. Lee Grant

Grant has been vital for Stoke (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)

                          

After a bit of back and forth with Derby Stoke have finally landed Lee Grant for around £1m.

He has already paid that off this season with some of his displays and the sum they will pay out to keep him for the rest of the campaign will be money well spent.

The veteran stopper, 33, has excelled since arriving on loan from Derby and continued his impressive form against Chelsea.

His saves from Diego Costa, three times, Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard prevented the damage being much worse than it could have been.

4. What Stoke need in January

Stoke celebrate Martins Indi's equaliser (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)

                         

     With their goalkeeping issue now resolved, Stoke could do with another option up top.

Peter Crouch was a handful, scoring Stoke's second equaliser, in a rare start for the 35 year-old.

But Wilfried Bony's loan move hasn't worked out and they could do with an alternative.

5. Chelsea's shopping list

                             

                                 Antonio Conte barks orders at his side (Photo: REUTERS)

As for Chelsea, how do you improve the league's best side? Right across the pitch they look strong with plenty of options in reserve.

Perhaps the only thing they need is Lady Luck to stay on their side and keep their main men fit for the second half of the season.

Player ratings

Chelsea

Courtois 6 - Exposed for goal and, aside from one air kick, a calming presence.

Azpilicueta 6 - Gave away free-kick for equaliser and then lost Stoke scorer Indi.

Luiz 7 - Couple of risky passes but also made a number of decisive interceptions.

Cahill 7 - Scored opener but was beaten in the air by Crouch before Stoke goal.

Moses BOOKED 6 - Stayed out of trouble after early booking and helped set up winner.

Fabregas BOOKED MOTM 8 - Ran the show with an excellent all round midfield display.

                           

                        Fabregas turned in a man of the match display (Photo: Darren Walsh)

Kante 7 - First to every loose ball and never lost possession when he had it

Alonso BOOKED 6 - Got forward well all game and was a regular outlet.

Willian 8 - Came to the fore in the second half with two well taken goals.

Costa 8 - Led line expertly and got a deserved goal out of nothing.

Hazard 6 - Not as eye-catching as against Bournemouth but still grabbed an assist.

SUBS

Matic (Fabregas 75) 5

Ivanovic (Moses 82) 5

Chalobah (Willian 84) 5

Stoke

Grant 8 - Conceded four but would have been much worse without him.

Johnson 6 - Covered his fellow centre-backs well and helped out to control Hazard.

Shawcross 6 - Off the mark too late and beaten in air by Cahill for opener.

Martins Indi 6 - Scored but bullied way too easily by Costa for fourth goal.

                        

                               Bruno Martins Indi scored the opener (Photo: Reuters)

Diouf BOOKED 6 - Put in a shift as right-wing back but had little impact going forward.

Allen 5 - Started brightly but his influence faded as game wore on.

Adam BOOKED 6 - His set pieces caused problems but should have scored first-half header.

Pieters 6 - Posed problems with his forward runs but forced back eventually by Willian.

Shaqiri 6 - Some nice touches and dangerous passes but not enough impact.

Crouch 7 - Impressed in second half. Set up one and scored another.

Afellay 5 - Worked hard but didn't see enough of ball to have attacking impact.

Subs

Bojan (Shaqiri 61) 5

Imbula (Afellay 61) 5

[MIRROR]