Late Assaidi cracker hands Stoke shock win over Chelsea

 

Substitute Oussama Assaidi struck a stunning late winner as Stoke shocked Chelsea 3-2 at the Britannia Stadium.

Chelsea took an early lead when Andre Schurrle was afforded the freedom of the Stoke half to run at the hosts’ defence and plant a shot into the bottom corner past the despairing reach of Asmir Begovic.
But, despite all their territorial advantage, Chelsea stuttered through the rest of the half and were punished on the stroke of half-time when Peter Crouch shot through a crowded penalty area to equalise after Petr Cech had wandered needlessly off his line from a corner.
The match exploded into life after the break with Stoke edging ahead when Stephen Ireland curled past Cech but Schurrle equalised moments later with a tremendous hit from the edge of the area.
Both sides spurned chances to win it with Schurrle inches away from a hat-trick as his rasping effort struck the bar before Ireland somehow blazed over from inside the area.
And it was Stoke who grabbed a famous win as Liverpool loanee Assaidi cut inside onto his right foot and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner to dent Chelsea's title charge.