Stoke 0 Chelsea 4
Frank Lampard scored again as Chelsea stormed to victory at the Britannia Stadium, where John Terry came on as a substitute.
Terry’s return to first-team action was a huge boost for the Blues, although he gave away a late penalty which Jon Walters – who scored two own goals – blasted against the bar.
Walters’ mishaps put Chelsea two up before Lampard netted with a penalty and Eden Hazard brilliantly smashed home the fourth.
It was Stoke’s first home league defeat for almost a year, while Lampard’s goal was his fifth in seven matches.
It also saw him replace Kerry Dixon as Chelsea’s second-highest scorer of all time and underlined his case for a new contract as the end of his current deal approaches.
Chelsea went ahead shortly before half-time, when Walters headed into his own net while trying to clear Cesar Azpilicueta’s chipped cross.
Stoke pushed for an equaliser after the break and thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Matthew Etheringon was brought down by Azpilicueta.
Referee Andre Marriner pointed to the spot, but altered his decision after seeing that his assistant Sian Massey had rightly flagged for an offside against Etherington.
The home fans were furious and salt was rubbed into their wounds by Walters’ second own goal – a header from Juan Mata’s corner.
Chelsea then moved up a gear and Lampard emphatically converted his spot-kick after Robert Huth’s foul on Mata, before Hazard delightfully beat his man and fired into the top corner.
Terry, sidelined for two months with a knee injury, came on for the final 10 minutes.
He clumsily fouled Walters, whose misery was compounded when the Stoke forward made a mess of the resulting penalty.
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta (Ferreira 83), Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Ramires, Lampard, Hazard, Mata (Terry 80), Bertrand, Ba (Torres 71).
Subs not used: Turnbull, Oscar, Marin, Ake.
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This post was last modified on 13/01/2013