Chelsea defender Gary Cahill broke the deadlock in his side’s clash with Stoke City on Saturday afternoon with a bullet header from a corner.
Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant had done a great job of keeping the hosts at bay in the lead-up to the goal, producing a brilliant save to deny Eden Hazard.
However, from the resulting corner, Cahill rose highest to power his header into the back of the net with that man Cesc Fabregas taking the set-piece.
It was the Spaniard’s fifth assist of the season in just his 13th game in all competitions, as he continues to make a decisive impact for Antonio Conte’s side even though he may not always be one of the first names on the team sheet.
Chelsea are looking for a 13th consecutive league win as they march on at the top of the Premier League table, but they’ll have to stay alert as it was evenly matched between the two sides early on with Stoke causing the home side some problems.
Nevertheless, Fabregas’s quality delivery and Cahill’s finish separated the two sides, with Chelsea hoping to temporarily stretch their lead to nine points at the top of the table.
Cahill zet Chelsea op voorsprong tegen Stoke: 1-0 ! #CHESTK pic.twitter.com/xVTBswb6mo
— Voetbalfan (@manindetribune) December 31, 2016