15:00
Saturday 12th September 2009
With the transfer window now fully shut until January, Tony Pulis had his chance to show off his new look Stoke side without the fear of them being approached and they didn't disappoint.
Pulis decided to play five in the back which saw new signing Robert Huth make his debut to a sell out crowd at the Britannia.
Chelsea started the brighter of the two sides with Drogba threatening to score twice early on. Stoke though fought back and Petr Cech did well not to concede from Glenn Whelan's free kick.
James Beattie threatened to embarrass the Chelsea right back Ivanovic by swiping the ball that was headed back to Cech but the ball didn't bounce high enough for a decent strike and the ball went wide.
Beattie injured his ankle during the attempt. He was taken off and replaced by fan favourite Ricardo Fuller.
The bear pit of support started loud and kept up their praise of the team throughout. A combination of the hot weather, electric atmosphere and Stoke tactics seemed to frustrate the London side as Chelsea started to make mistakes.
Mikel fouled Dave Kitson and shortly after Kalou received a Yellow card for blocking a Rory Delap throw.
It seemed like somebody was bound to be sent off as the confetti of yellow cards continued with Ryan Shawcross the next victim of the referees book.
A short spell of pressure from Chelsea saw Stoke frustrated but it their dominance wasn't to last long as Glenn Whelan played in a lovely cross from a set play - Abdoulaye Faye was left unmarked and headed the ball home.
Thomas Sorenson was to be Stoke's next substitution due to a thigh strain, Steve Simonsen replacing the Danish number one.
Due to the two substitutions and the treatment time eight minutes of extra time was awarded by the fourth official. Two minutes into the eight Drogba got free in the Stoke half and placed the ball in the top right hand corner much to the disappointment of Simonsen who couldn't have stopped it.
The second half started to a quieter Britannia Stadium but it didn't take long for the fans to be in full flow again. A barrage of chances came from Chelsea but Simonsen and the Stoke defence hurled their bodies in the path of the ball and the Blues were left frustrated.
It was again the central defenders who looked most like scoring for Stoke as Faye and Huth had chances.
Half an hour from time Anelka replaced Kalou, Ballack was substituted for Essien and Tuncay made his second appearance off the bench in a Stoke shirt coming on for David Kitson.
The new blood injected yet more pace and excitement but it would prove to be a hard day for Tuncay as he just couldn't seem to keep hold of the ball.
Chelsea shots were headed away as quick as they came in by the three tall central defenders with Shawcross, Faye and Huth guarding the Stoke goal with their lives.
Simonsen made a few fine saves too and it looked as it Chelsea wouldn't make their record attempt of ten consecutive wins.
However once again the forth official was to annoy the Stoke fans as the board displayed 5 minutes of added time - the games total of 13 minutes the longest in any league game.
It was a repeat of Stoke's journey to Stamford Bridge a few months before as Chelsea scrambled a winner in the final minutes. Florent Malouda the breaker of Stoke City hearts with his bullet shot along the ground just beating the Stoke keeper.