By Gary Watton
December 14 2016
The now runaway leaders of the Premiership made life very hard for themselves on Wearside, relying solely upon a tasty finish from the recalled Cesc Fabregas to see them to maximum points, thereby extending their cosmic Premiership winning sequence to a mouthwatering ten fixtures, eight of which have been clean sheets. In fact, while Cesc deserves his moment in the spotlight, maybe the hero of the day was indeed Mr Clean Sheets himself, big Tibo Courtois.
For it was young Thibaut who produced one of the very best saves of the season when he turned away a near certain goal from Van Aanholt in added on time. Yes Chelsea could easily have been stung by a late equaliser by a plucky, if impotent Sunderland. The Premiership favourites really should have tucked the match safely into bed long before, but our attackers didn't bring their best shooting boots out after the interval, as they spurned a number of chances which only served to encourage the hapless hosts.
Anyhow, we have bypassed this potential banana skin and now prepare for a visit to Crystal Palace. If we play well (and preferably don't rely on another 1-0 lead), we will win. However, if we are under par, then the south Londoners just might take advantage. Well, we've got ourselves a beautiful six-points cushion at the top of the charts. Maybe we can extend it over the weekend and take our winning sequence to eleven. Let's hope so.
Sunderland 0 CHELSEA 1; half time: 0-1
CHELSEA goal scorer: Fabregas
CHELSEA team: Courtois; Azpilicueta; Luiz; Fabregas; Kante; Cahill; Alonso; Moses; Willian; Pedro; Costa. Used substitutes: Matic; Chalobah; Ivanovic
CHELSEA leading scorers:
Costa twelve goals
Hazard eight goals (including one penalty)
Moses four goals
Batshuayi three goals
Fabregas three goals
Pedro three goals
Willian three goals
Cahill two goals