Ekun Samuel, 15 December 2016
Chelsea Boss Antonio Conte made two changes to his side, Cesc Fabregas in place for Nemaja Matic and Willian for the injured Eden Hazard who picked up a little knuckle with the win against West-Brom on Sunday.
Cesc Fabregas once again has proven to Antonio Conte of being worthy of a place in the starting eleven. This time, the Spaniard net in the winner as his strike on the 40min broke the deadlock to give Chelsea a 1-0 away win. The only goal for the night.
A brilliant save from Thibaut Courtious with a shot from former Chelsea player Patrick Van Alhot, earned Chelsea a win with a narrow escape at the Stadium of Light, the second half which saw Sunderland fought back into the game, but the resilient Blues were up to par to earn a victory.
Chelsea now have 10 straight wins, and are three games away from matching the record set by "Arsenal Invincibles" in 2001/2002 for going thirteen straight wins in a row. Chelsea will be looking to break the record when they travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur on 3rd of January.
Antonio Conte not too satisfied with the result, spoke after the match:
"After the first half I spoke with my players and told them 'try to kill the game,' because it's always very dangerous to keep the result 1-0," Conte told BBC Sport.
"At the end of the game Sunderland had a great chance [with Van Aanholt], and only a great save from Thibaut kept the result 1-0. He's a fantastic goalkeeper and when we needed him he replied in a good way. It's fantastic and I'm pleased for him.
"When you have the possibility to kill the game you must kill the game. We had this possibility but we didn't and at the end Courtois made a great save. It was good, it is important for the future because today we didn't pay. I hope in the future we can improve."
