Stoke 3 Chelsea 2
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Chelsea's Andre Schurrle scores the opening goal against Stoke City in the Premier League at Britannia Stadium. Photograph: Scott Heavey/Getty Images
A 90th-minute thunderbolt from Oussama Assaidi sealed a dramatic victory for Stoke over Chelsea. This frantic and tetchy encounter appeared to be heading for a draw until the Moroccan, on as a late substitute, hit a rasping drive from the edge of the area that had Petr Cech grasping for air and the majority of supporters in attendance here singing in utter joy.
Andre Schürrle had given Chelsea the lead with a long-range effort of his own, and from almost the exact position on 19 minutes, before Stoke scored twice either side of half-time with Peter Crouch and then Stephen Ireland striking in contrasting style. Schürrle then struck again to cap the German's most effective display for the London club since his summer arrival from Bayer Leverkusen and it appeared Stoke's hopes of recording a first league win over Chelsea since 1975 had gone. Then, however, came the winner, with Assaidi, who is on a season-long loan from Liverpool, letting fly from the left-edge of the visitors area after cutting across Bransilav Ivanovic and unleashing a right-footed drive that swerved away from Cech's reach.
Chelsea were stunned and saw their chances of cutting the gap with leaders Arsenal blown apart.
Having scored in the midweek victory at Sunderland, Frank Lampard could consider himself somewhat unfortunate to be omitted from Chelsea's starting line-up here, but having featured heavily over recent weeks, and with a busy schedule to come, Mourinho clearly saw this as opportunity to rest the veteran. He was one of two changes from the side that won 4-3 at the Stadium of Light, with Willian losing his place to Schürrle.
Mark Hughes also made two changes to the Stoke team that drew 0-0 with Cardiff on Wednesday – Marc Muniesa replacing the injured Erik Pieters while Jonathan Walters, who scored two own goals and missed a penalty in this fixture last season, took the place of Assaidi.
The hosts started brightly, with Walters and Marko Arnautovic looking to stretch Chelsea from out wide.
The visitors were the more threatening, however, and should have taken the lead on four minutes when Ramires blasted Schürrle's cut-back high over the bar. Five minutes later, the German capped an impressive start to proceedings with the opening goal, firing a low drive from the left-hand edge of the area, having collected Mikel John Obi's pass and taken advantage of some less-than-robust defending by Ryan Shawcross.
Things got worse for Stoke on 18 minutes when Charlie Adam went off injured. The top scorer was replaced by Ireland, with the midfielder coming into a side that was being outplayed by their opponents.
Chelsea were dominating possession, with their attacking trio of Eden Hazard,Juan Mata and Schürrle causing havoc for their hosts with their constant and clever movement behind lone striker Fernando Torres. Frustrated with what he was seeing, Hughes was soon ordering his defenders to make more of an effort in closing down their tormentors in blue.
The manager's mood changed considerably three minutes from the break, however, when Stoke equalised. Arnautovic's corner from the left was not cleared by Chelsea and, unmarked in a central position, Crouch struck with a scrappy shot that went through the legs of Cech. The manner of the goal would have particularly annoyed José Mourinho, given his criticism of the way in which his side defended set-pieces against Sunderland.
Clearly galvanised by the equaliser, the hosts dominated the early stages of the second half and were rewarded for their efforts when Ireland scored on 50 minutes with a brilliantly placed curling drive from just outside the Chelsea area. Cue thunderous singing from the home support but they were to be silenced shortly after when Schürrle struck to make it 2-2, drilling a long-range drive past Asmir Begovic after Crouch inadvertently cleared Mata's free-kick into the path of the 23-year-old. Schürrle then thought he had his hat-trick, only to see his curling effort clip the top of the bar.
Just as he had done in midweek, José Mourinho replaced the ineffective Torres with Demba Ba in the pursuit of a winning goal yet it was the hosts who had the next best chance to score. With space opening up in an increasingly frantic contest, Steven Nzonzi found himself with time and space on the left-wing to deliver a cross which Crouch chested in the path of the waiting Ireland. Most in attendance held their breath in anticipation of seeing the net bulge only for Ireland to send his shot sailing over the bar.
Lampard was eventually introduced on 70 minutes, coming on for Mikel while Schürrle was replaced by Samuel Eto'o. Chelsea were now lined-up in a 4-4-2 formation as the hunt for a third goal became increasingly desperate. At the other end, meanwhile, Stoke continued to harass the visitors with Muniesa even getting in on the action and hitting a shot at goal which momentarily caused concern for those in blue.
Chelsea would ultimately be breached one more time. Assaidi's winner came from nowhere and gave Stoke only their second league victory since 31 August and the biggest scalp of Mark Hughes' tenure so far.
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