English Premiership: Chelsea draws with Stoke, 1-1

Mame Biram Diouf scored a late equaliser as Stoke prevented Chelsea from overtaking them in the league.

Diouf was replaced by Joselu immediately after scoring

Bertrand Traore, playing as a central striker, gave the Blues the lead when he took Willian’s pass, turned and fired home from 20 yards out.

The Potters deservedly levelled when Xherdan Shaqiri’s cross was punched by Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois to Diouf, who headed into an empty net.

Bojan almost won it for the Potters in injury time but Courtois denied him.

Stoke remain seventh in the table, with Chelsea 10th – three points behind them.

Evidently Chelsea missed injured Costa

The Blues were without striker Diego Costa, who missed the game with a minor tendon injury – a possi.ble worry for Wednesday’s Champions League game with Paris St-Germain.

Burkina Faso forward Traore started centrally, with recognised strikers Loic Remy and Alexandre Pato being on the bench, and his goal was the one real moment of quality in the game.

He found space outside the box before firing a great shot past Jack Butland – his fourth goal in five games.

However, he had a mixed game, failing to control the ball in the box on a couple of occasions and being caught offside needlessly.

He was replaced after 68 minutes by Remy, who had little impact on the game.

Interim boss Guus Hiddink will be desperate for Costa to return for the PSG tie.