Stoke City 3-2 Chelsea - Statistical Analysis

Peter Crouch of Stoke celebrates after scoring their first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Stoke City and Chelsea at Britannia Stadium.

On a day upon which neutrals across the country were well and truly spoiled in terms of Premier League upsets, owing to a 90th minute Oussama Assaidi strike Stoke managed to defeat Chelsea for the first time since April 5th 1975.

Key Stats

As you might expect Chelsea appear the dominant side statistically, beaten by Stoke only in terms of corners won and fouls committed. Their passing was neat as the blues successfully moved the ball on 85% of the time, and they came out on top in terms of possession with 55%. Yet they failed to quash their opponents resolve upon going ahead through Andre Schurrle’s effort from just outside the box, just inside the first ten minutes and subsequently conceded on the 42nd and 50th minute mark.

Andre Schurrle netted swiftly after the Blues went 2 – 1 down, trebling his Chelsea league goalscoring record before the game in the process, but despite testing Asmir Begovic six times throughout the match Chelsea failed to pull ahead again, leaving themselves vulnerable to Assaidi’s last gasp shocker that earned the Potters all three points.

What’s more, the Liverpool-loanee’s finish means Chelsea slip down from second to third in the Premier League table, beneath the Moroccan winger’s parent-club. Funnily enough, ex-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch netted Stoke’s second

Man of the Match

Despite playing for the losing team, Andre Schurrle is today’s Squawka Man of the Match. In terms of the German midfielder’s impact on the game, little else need be said other than that he scored both of his teams goals. However, the ex-Bayer Levekusen man also racked up some pretty impressive statistics elsewhere. In completing 16 of his 17 attempted passes his passing accuracy, most notably, ended the match at 94%, while two of his three attempted crosses found a teammate. Also worth mentioning was Schurrle’s accuracy in front of goal as all five of his attempts found the target, he was denied by Begovic on three occasions.

Performance Scores

Chelsea’s line appears so dominantly on the Squawka Performance Score graph is a testament to the observation that they really should have taken more away from this fixture. After the initial ten minutes, Stoke spent the first half struggling to emerge above the zero point line, before consistently rising during the ten minute period between the 40th and 50th, a duration in which the Potters scored two of their three goals. Stoke dipped after Chelsea’s immediate response to Steven Ireland’s slick second-half finish and remained fairly quiet until the final ten.

Jose Mourinho, a manager notorious for killing games and grinding out results, has experienced this type of shock result on several occasions this season; their Stamford Bridge encounter with Basel for instance. As demonstrated by the contrast between this result and the way in which the graph above shows how the Blues were dominant virtually from kick-off to final whistle, Chelsea are in dire need of a return to their manager’s old, yet evidently more successful habits.

Key Observations

As an individual, Eden Hazard’s talents are well document and clearly apparent on show today as Chelsea’s top league goalscorer carried off all twelve of his attempted take-ons. Hazard also completed 46 of his 48 attempted passes, which equates to an accuracy level of 96%.

Hazard, off the back of a dazzling, brace-scoring midweek display, clocked up some staggering statistics over his 90 minutes at the Britannia Stadium, yet didn’t take home the much coveted Squawka Man of the Match award. Why this might be the case has to do with the lack of penetration and the inability to deliver the final killing blow in the Belgian ace’s game today, which was ultimately representative of the rest of his team.