Stoke City 0 Chelsea 4
After enduring the horrid 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Swansea in the opening Capitol One Cup draw, at home, at The Bridge, I am sure most Chelsea fans, myself included would have felt a certain trepidation ahead of Saturday’s Premier League tilt with Stoke City, at Stoke. After our vile performance against the Swans, it was the End of The World all over again. And what better place to seek shelter than the vaunted Chelsea landmark, The World’s End at 459 Kings Road. A perfect place to seek shelter, yes? Except for one small detail. The place is currently CLOSED.
A trip to Stoke is not a trip any club in their right mind wants to make. If you’re lucky, you’ll feel lucky to come out with a point.
Stoke is stingy at home. And my hope was that at best we’d nick one goal and hold on for dear life.
As it turned out….the worry was for naught. Thanks to Stoke’s venerable striker Jonathan Walters.
Walters had a memorable day to forget. He scored 2, count ’em, TWO, own goals. And…his attempt at a small consolation penalty kick at or near the death went skewing straight at and off the crossbar into row WTF.
It was the end of the world for Jonathan Walters. But….
Stoke City 4 Crystal Palace 1
Today’s FA Cup replay with Crystal Palace put Stoke back on form. They held a 1-0, and very Stoke-like, lead until Ryan Shawcross conceded a penalty and Crystal Palace striker Glenn Murray, thwacked it home at the 87th minute.
The matched headed for extra time. And…guess what.
Jonathan Walters scored the game winning goal at the 95th minute. He smacked another one in 15 minutes later. And Cameron Jerome frosted the cake at the death to send Stoke on to face Manchester City in the 4th round. Can Citeh pull one off on a frosty Saturday NOON in Stoke? We shall see. Honestly, I’d like to see Stoke plonk City out of the Cup.
I felt sorry for Walters, to be honest. Not too sorry mind you, but sorry enough to feel good about him redeeming himself today.
At least it wasn’t a NICE BOAT ending.
So with that, we’ve got Chelsea vs. Southampton tomorrow as I type this. And a can of BIG FLATS Lager to contend with. And yes, a bit of soothing music.