Goals from captain John Terry and assists king Cesc Fabregas gave Chelsea a 2-0 win at Stoke City in a Premier League match on Monday night at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium.

Having seen Manchester City go level on points at the top earlier on Saturday, the Blues needed a win to ease the pressure from the league champions and duly delivered against Mark Hughes’ side.

Jose Mourinho’s side got off to the perfect start on the night, taking the lead just two minutes into the encounter through Terry who headed in a cornerkick from Fabregas.

The goal meant the former England defender has now scored in 15 successive Premier League seasons, the current longest stretch in the league and second only to former Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs.

Eden Hazard’s deflected effort had led to the cornerkick and the Belgian midfielder continued to be Chelsea’s main threat, earning him a rough night which eventually led to him limping off injured just before the end.

Before then however, Hazard had provided the second goal for Fabregas who latched on to a defence-splitting pass from the Belgian to score only his second Premier League goal for Chelsea.

Fabregas meanwhile has now provided 12 assists in the league this season, one less than Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard who led the assists chart for all of last season.

Next up for Chelsea is a Boxing Day London derby against fourth placed West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.