Willian shines, Chelsea extends winning streak to 13 matches

Although a bit worried about Stoke's two equalizers, coach Conte and his team still showed their strength when they won 4-2 in round 19 of the Premier League.

In the final game of 2016, Chelsea gave their home fans at Stamford Bridge a feast of football. Six goals were scored, four of which were by Conte's men, meaning Chelsea had their 13th consecutive win in the Premier League.

Chelsea continues to play the "body count" game with Stoke City being the latest victim. Photo: Reuters.

This winning streak helped Chelsea break their own record for consecutive wins in the Premier League. Not only that, Conte's team also equaled the record for the longest winning streak in an English national championship season, which belonged to Preston North End, Sunderland in the 1891-1892 season, and Arsenal in the 2001-2002 season.

Another win, in the London derby against host Tottenham in round 20 on January 5, will help Chelsea equal the record of 14 consecutive wins set by Arsenal in 2002, with 13 matches at the end of the 2001-2002 season and the opening match of the 2002-2003 season.

However, to be able to beat Tottenham in the next round, Conte and his team will have a lot of work to do if we look at what they showed against Stoke City. After a somewhat leisurely first half and leading 1-0 thanks to Gary Cahill's header, Chelsea encountered many difficulties in the second half.

Chelsea's porous defense made Courtois struggle many times and conceded two goals against Stoke City. Photo: Reuters.

Since the transition to sChelsea, who had been playing in a 3-4-3 formation and had won 12 consecutive matches, had conceded just two goals. But within the first 19 minutes of the second half against Stoke, they had conceded as many goals as their defence had shown to be very vulnerable.

Both goals came in almost the same scenario, when Chelsea had a large number of players at home, but played carelessly, allowing the opponent to freely coordinate and then shoot past Thibaut Courtois. In the first goal, in the 47th minute, Crouch easily received a high ball, then headed it into a more favorable position for Martins-Indi to finish. In the second goal, the ball passed through Crouch, Bojan, Diouf, then returned to Crouch, allowing the tall striker to comfortably tap the ball into the net from close range, equalizing 2-2 for Stoke.

But on a day when the defense suddenly lost form, Chelsea still had stars who knew how to make a difference up front. This time, playing the role of their hero was Willian. The Brazilian midfielder did not play very prominently from the start of the match, but spoke up very promptly and at the right time, helping Chelsea regain their spirit and create an important turning point for the victory. With two situations of coming in at the right time, Willian received passes from Hazard and Fabregas to raise the score to 2-1 and 3-2 in the 57th and 65th minutes.

Willian shined at the right time, creating the most important turning point for Chelsea to win. Photo: Reuters.

Stoke City were clearly down after Willian's second goal, and Chelsea took advantage of that opportunity to score another. Diego Costa, after many missed attempts, succeeded in finding his 14th Premier League goal this season, with a strong move from Stoke's penalty area to seal a 4-2 win for Chelsea.

According to VNE