During halftime, both Stoke City and Chelsea made tactical adjustments to a certain extent.
Chelsea's head coach, Conte, was quite satisfied with his players' performance in the first half.
He instructed the team to avoid injuries as much as possible in the second half and to slow down Stoke City's momentum.
According to Conte, Chelsea already had one foot in the door of victory.
Thus, there was no need for Chelsea to engage in unnecessary physical battles with their opponents.
The only priority was to stabilize the game and maintain control.
Meanwhile, in the away locker room, Stoke City's head coach, Mark Hughes, urged his players to be more aggressive in their attack and to create as much pressure as possible on Chelsea's goal.
Although the team was trailing 3–1, Mark Hughes remained optimistic.
He firmly believed that as long as every Stoke City player gave their all, a miracle was still within reach.
After the 15-minute break, players from both Stoke City and Chelsea returned to the pitch, ready to resume the battle.
The second half began, and as the trailing side, Stoke City's players were determined to increase their attacking intensity and put Chelsea under pressure right from the restart.
Just a few minutes into the second half, Stoke City began to take control of the game's rhythm.
In the 50th minute, Stoke City managed to carve out a golden opportunity.
Midfielder Charlie Adam, who was in fine form throughout the night, played a key role once again.
Stoke City's only goal in the first half had come from Adam's remarkable long-range strike.
And now, under the pressure of multiple Chelsea midfielders, Adam delivered another exceptional pass—
a scalpel-like through ball that perfectly found forward Berahino.
Inside the penalty area, Berahino received the ball from Charlie Adam.
With swift and precise movements, he began weaving through the Chelsea defense.
He repeatedly feinted, attempting to outmaneuver the defenders and create a scoring opportunity.
But unfortunately for Berahino, Chelsea's center-back, Azpilicueta, was equal to the challenge.
With his impressive defensive ability, Azpilicueta quickly positioned himself to block Berahino's path.
Instead of rushing to intercept, Azpilicueta relied on his experience and physical strength to deny Berahino any space or chance to shoot.
It was a masterclass in defending.
Realizing that a direct shot was impossible, Berahino opted to pass the ball back to Charlie Adam at the edge of the penalty area.
In this way, the ball, after cycling around, returned to the feet of Stoke's midfield maestro.
And this time, Charlie Adam wasted no time.
Without taking a touch to control the ball, he unleashed a thunderous long-range shot.
The ball flew like a cannonball, hurtling toward Chelsea's goal with immense speed and power.
Chelsea's goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, was alert and focused, but...
Adam's strike was simply unstoppable!
The sheer power of the shot left Courtois with no chance at all as the ball smashed into the back of the net.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
I upload 2 chapters daily on Patreon!
There are 400+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Check out my new Marvel fanfic!
[Marvel: Rise of Heroes]