Chelsea FC would cotinue their alarming run of form with a loss at Stoke City on Tuesday night. After going down a goal, the Blues clawed back to equalize. The game would go on to a penalty shootout, where the hosts would win in sudden death. The loss eliminates Chelsea from the Capital One Cup.
Chelsea looked the more promising team early on. Just five minutes in Diego Costa nearly beat Jack Butland near post, but the keeper was able to get his body in the way.
The early pressure would continue with Ramires putting the ball into the side netting after being played through by Baba Rahman.
Towards the end of the first half, both teams were denied scoring chances. First John Terry scored for Chelsea, but the linesman deemed him offside. Replays showed that the central defender was indeed a step offside.
Then Stoke nearly opened the scoring right before the halftime whistle through Jonathan Walters. The Irish international had a chance right in front of goal, but Asmir Begovic was able to smother the shot.
Walters would redeem himself in the 52nd minute by scoring a cracking goal. He received the ball at the top of the box, cleared a bit of space for himself, and sent a rocket past Begovic.
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It would take the visitors all the way until stoppage time of the second half to find the equalizer. Kurt Zouma was able to flick a header on to Loic Remy. The substitute then controlled the ball and blasted it into the back of the net, making the score 1-1.
It would go from bad to worse for Stoke, as Phil Bardsley was shown a second yellow card, leaving them a man down. Even so, they were able to defend well, and keep Chelsea out for the remainder of extra time.
Neither team missed a penalty, until surprisingly Eden Hazard had his attempt saved by Butland.
The woes continue for the Londoners, with things not getting any easier with Liverpool this weekend.
MOTM: Jack Butland – The keeper made a number of saves to keep his team in the game. Most importantly, the game winning save against Hazard.