With their goals at Stoke City, Gary Cahill and Willian added to the high-scoring season they are each having at Chelsea. Saturday’s opponents have been particularly friendly to these two Blues.
Many players have clubs that they always come up big against. Diego Costa has scored more goals against Swansea City than any other Premier League team. Nobody brings out the best in Eden Hazard quite like Tottenham. Willian and Gary Cahill are coming to particularly relish matches against Stoke.
After Saturday’s game Gary Cahill has four Premier League goals this season. That is his highest tally in Blue, and is only one shy of his career-best from 2009/2010 at Bolton.
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Willian has six goals, bettering his five in the Premier League last season. The Brazilian has accomplished this on fewer than half the playing minutes he saw in 2015/16. He reminded everyone why he was Chelsea’s best player last year with his clever, sneaky free kick against Stoke. Willian terrorized the Premier League and Champions League last year, with his free-kicks being the most consistent source of Chelsea’s goals.
Willian’s last three Premier League goals have come against Stoke (he scored in the FA Cup against Brentford and Peterborough). He scored a brace off of five shots when the two sides met at Stamford Bridge on New Year’s Eve.
Gary Cahill opened the scoring in that fixture, thumping in a header off of a corner kick. He rounded out that game by completing 49 of 50 passes and making seven clearances.
Cahill had a solid game defensively on the most go-around, as well. He made one tackle, two interceptions and seven clearances while being the perfect counter-force to Stoke’s rough-and-tumble play. Cahill nominally committed the foul that gave Stoke their equalizing penalty kick in the 38′.
However, the situation was a botched call on an effective dive by Stoke’s Jonathan Walters. Cahill made minimal contact with Walters, with Walters flinging himself forward to attract referee Anthony Taylor’s attention.
Even if Cahill’s push was more significant, it did little to interfere with the play or any goal-scoring opportunity as Thibaut Courtois was far closer to the ball than Walters at the time of contact. Walters had no chance of gaining possession unless he committed a flagrant foul against Courtois in the process.
Next: Chelsea's third-quarter grades: Closing in on the final run
Willian and Gary Cahill sum up the spirit of this Chelsea side. They have both put in performances to silence their detractors, all the while running up their best goal-scoring seasons in Blue.