Stoke 0-4 Chelsea: Premier League highlights and recap

Chelsea beat Stoke 4-0 at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 23. Here are all the highlights from the match.

Related Story: The 30 worst signings in Premier League history

Chelsea eased past Stoke at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday, riding Alvaro Morata’s hat-trick to a 4-0 win. The Potters played well for the most part, but the Blues were ruthless in exploiting several their defensive errors.

Morata’s first goal, and Stoke’s first mistake, came in only the second minute. The Spaniard was allowed space in behind when Glen Johnson failed to track what should have been a fairly predictable run, and he finished comfortably past Jack Butland.

Stoke responded well, pegging Chelsea back and forcing them into some uncomfortable defending in their own 18-yard box. Xherdan Shaqiri, in particular, looked threatening, but the home side failed to test Thibaut Courtois.

In the 30th minute, the Blues again capitalized on a Stoke error. This time, Darren Fletcher was the culprit, his poor chest control dropping straight to Pedro, who finished powerfully past Butland into the bottom-left corner.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Chelsea are at their best with a lead to defend, and though Stoke made life uncomfortable for them — Marcos Alonso was a little unlucky to avoid a red card midway through the half, and was promptly withdrawn for Gary Cahill — the Blues maintained their threat on the counter.

Morata’s second goal, Chelsea’s third, was easily his best. Johnson made another costly error, giving the ball away just inside his own half, before Morata glided past Fletcher and lifted the ball over Butland into the bottom-right corner.

That put any hope of a Stoke comeback to rest, and Morata completed his hat-trick shortly after, this time bundling in at the back post after good combination play between Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Next: 25 best club soccer teams of all time

Highlights

Chelsea stay third in the table with the win, trailing only the two Manchester clubs. Stoke are down in 15th place, but can take encouragement from their form against some of the best teams in the league to start the season.