Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea: Premier League as it happened

That is all for this particular blog, but be sure to stay with IBTimes UK for reaction from all of tonight's big Premier League matches.

We will be back on Saturday to bring you live coverage of that London derby between Crystal Palace and Chelsea in addition to a teatime clash between West Brom and Manchester United.

Until then, goodnight.

That fantastic last-gasp stop from Courtois helps to seal Chelsea's 10th consecutive top-flight victory. Conte's in-form side now boast a six-point lead over nearest challengers Liverpool, who cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at Middlesbrough tonight, and Arsenal. Next up is a Saturday lunchtime visit to London rivals Crystal Palace.

As for struggling Sunderland, they remain rooted to the foot of the table and four points adrift of safety. With preciously little money to spend in January, it is clear that Moyes has his work cut out to keep them from dropping back to the Championship for the first time since 2007.

The Black Cats host Watford next before travelling to Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

Full-time

Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea

What a crucial save!

Larsson's free-kick is flicked on towards Defoe, who chests the ball down nicely for Van Aanholt.

The Dutch full-back then takes a touch to shake off Chalobah and uncorks a strike that is beaten away superbly by Courtois.

Moses unceremoniously upends Van Aanholt to give Sunderland another chance to put the ball into the box. He is booked and then quickly replaced by the out of favour Branislav Ivanovic.

Azpilicueta does well to turn a deep Love cross behind and Courtois holds a goal-bound Denayer header.

Three minutes of added time for Sunderland to find an equaliser.

Costa lofts a lovely pass into the path of Fabregas, who shows his tiredness by scuffing a poor shot wide.

Nathaniel Chalobah jogs on in place of Willian as the clock ticks down towards the end of 90 minutes.

Willian shoots straight down Pickford's throat after being picked out by a sharp low pass into feet from Fabregas.

The highly-rated Sunderland goalkeeper then demonstrates impeccable timing to thwart the run of Costa with a strong right hand after the latter fights off the attentions of Kone.

Luiz gives away a free-kick in a decent position wide on the Sunderland left after going through the back of Borini, whose first outing since August ends after 82 minutes as he makes way for Wahbi Khazri.

Instead of trying to test Chelsea's defence with a deep cross, the Black Cats opt to work it short and the chance is utterly wasted. Moyes will be furious.

Defoe shows great persistence to keep Sunderland in possession but Larsson's low cross is easily cut out by Kante. Chelsea look to launch a swift counter but a long ball towards Costa bounces off his back and into the path of the defender.

Moyes looks to be preparing his third and final change.

Love tries to swing in a cross from the right but it is far too close to Courtois and the towering goalkeeper collects without any issue.

Chelsea head down the other end and look to put the game to bed, only for a spot of miscommunication between Matic and Willian to bring their latest attack to a screeching halt.

After a poor finish from Fabregas, Conte opts to make his first substitution of the evening.

Matic comes on in place of Pedro to shore up that Chelsea midfield for the final 15 minutes or so.

Pedro blazes over for Chelsea and Borini is booked for tugging back Kante.

Luiz, still sporting a heavily strapped left knee following that terrible challenge by Aguero, looks sluggish as Defoe nips in front of him to direct a Van Aanholt cross wide. He could easily have given away a penalty there.

Kante bursts through Kone and lets fly with a low effort that is saved by Pickford.

Sunderland counter and win a corner through Januzaj, but fail to test Courtois.

Costa works the ball out wide to Alonso and peels off the back off O'Shea. However, Pickford crucially intervenes before he can steer home the return pass.

Will the majority go home disappointed?

Willian collects a trademark long pass from eccentric compatriot Luiz, cuts inside Djilobodji and drills a low shot wide of the far post.

Moses drops his shoulder and cuts inside Van Aanholt. He then beats Larsson for pace before dragging an effort just wide of Pickford's left-hand post.

Sunderland are forced to make a second switch in quick succession. Jones picks up a knock and is replaced by the brilliantly named Donald Love.

Moyes withdraws Kirchhoff and sends on Larsson with his first change of the game.

Defoe berates Borini after the Italian, teed up nicely by Jones, shoots well over the top.

Kone again gets the better of Costa, just doing enough to ensure that he cannot make contact with a right-wing cross from Moses. That was a little bit more contentious.

Pedro picks up a yellow card for kicking the ball away.

An eventful couple of minutes for Costa. The powerful striker sees a low shot parried by Pickford before he is prevented from notching his 13th goal of the season after being outmuscled by Kone.

The Ivorian defender did appear to lean into Costa there, but it was never a penalty.

Crossbar!

Willian shows great speed from a static position and his shot is deflected onto the woodwork by a Djilobodji deflection.

Chelsea keep the attack alive and Moses tricks Kirchhoff on the edge of the box before producing a rather tame low drive that is easy for Pickford to gather.

Having had their tails up, Sunderland are fired a warning shot as Victor Moses picks up possession and rifles an impressive effort narrowly wide. Pickford was left scrambling on that occasion.

After Chelsea's next attacking move breaks down, Swarbrick pulls play back to read Jones the riot act following a late challenge on Pedro. No yellow card, though.

Courtois is called into action straight after the restart to deny Januzaj after his fellow Belgian international makes a brilliant angled run and is picked out by Defoe.

Strong stop.

We are back underway at the Stadium of Light. No changes from either Moyes or Conte at the interval.

Do Sunderland have something up their sleeve or are Chelsea coasting to a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League?

A thoroughly comfortable evening thus far for Chelsea. The Premier League leaders have been dominant and deservedly lead through Fabregas' tidy low finish.

Much work to do for Sunderland if they are to avoid another defeat here.

Half-time

Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea

O'Shea chops down Costa on the edge of the Sunderland box and joins Defoe in the book. Willian then steps up to thrash a free-kick narrowly over Pickford's crossbar.

That will do it for this first half.

Almost another chance for Costa, but he is unable to get his head to a cross due to some fine, subtle defending from Kone.

Defoe is cautioned for a poor challenge on Fabregas. Costa then heads well wide under significant pressure from another former Chelsea defender in Djilobodji.

Chelsea have monopolised possession so far tonight but have largely struggled to convert that dominance into clear-cut chances.

However, any hopes Sunderland had of heading in at half-time with the scores still level at 0-0 have now evaporated.

Coming forward from the left, Fabregas exchanges passes with Willian before wrapping a low right-footed shot through the legs of Djilobodji and inside the far post.

That is his first Premier League goal of the season and a fine riposte to those who have criticised him over recent weeks.

Goal: Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea (Cesc Fabregas)

Former Chelsea left-back Patrick van Aanholt's hopeful appeals for handball are negated by an offside flag.

Kirchhoff is then fortunate to avoid picking up a yellow card for a lazy trip on Willian. Luiz's driven free-kick skips up off the wall before being held by Pickford.

Costa releases Pedro with a low pass. He is flagged for offside, but Pickford was not to know that as he diverts the former Barcelona forward's low shot wide with an excellent fingertip save.

Denayer almost puts Pickford into trouble with a sliced backpass, but the young goalkeeper copes well.

He is then forced to deal with an enticing Fabregas corner and ends up running the ball out of play on the near side.

Wing-back Alonso has been comfortably Chelsea's most dangerous attacking threat during this opening half an hour on Wearside. However, his latest cross fails to pick out a teammate.

Alonso is once again given too much space to whip in a cross that Costa tries to dispatch first time on the volley. It's a difficult chance and the Spaniard can only find row z.

Januzaj squares up Cahill and looks to flummox the England defender with a few quick stepovers.

He refuses to bite and the Manchester United loanee ends up bending a left-footed shot well wide.

Costa receives a barrage of stick from the crowd after being blatantly barged over by Borini.

The free-kick comes to nothing. Still 0-0 after 25 minutes.

Finally something for Sunderland fans to get excited about on a baltic north-east evening. Jason Denayer floors Willian with an excellent sliding challenge and the hosts then produce a flowing passing move that ends with Luiz putting the ball out for a corner.

Willian stayed down for a while but now looks like he will be able to continue.

O'Shea cynically brings down Costa in the Sunderland half. Luiz looks like he might be winding up a shot from all of 40 yards before he runs over the ball and attempts to head Fabregas' free-kick towards goal.

Sunderland clear behind for a corner that is comfortably claimed by Jordan Pickford.

Januzaj is caught napping down the Sunderland right and that allows Alonso to threaten once more.

Gary Cahill is then whistled for another foul on Defoe.

Sunderland, I should mention, look like they are trying to match Chelsea's fluid 3-4-3 system....

Chelsea continue to probe for an opening as Pedro's low cross is dealt with by Lamine Kone.

The leaders have certainly had the better of the opening exchanges, but without a decent chance to show for it.

Moyes takes his frustration out on a collection of water bottles after Kirchhoff sends a rogue pass out of play under little pressure from any blue shirts.

Chelsea apply more pressure from a corner but Defoe does well to buy a free-kick from N'Golo Kante that gives Sunderland a chance to push out and clear their lines.

After five minutes, the Stadium of Light erupts into applause in support of Bradley Lowery. A lovely touch.

At the other end, Sunderland top scorer Jermain Defoe, who is the only player in Premier League history to score against Chelsea for four different teams, feeds Billy Jones.

The right-back surges forward and fizzes a cross-cum-shot wide of the post.

Marcos Alonso wins an early corner for the visitors and ends up volleying well over the crossbar after his blocked delivery is turned back into the box by Fabregas.

Referee Neil Swarbrick gets us underway at the Stadium of Light. Can Chelsea make it 20 wins in 24 Premier League meetings against Sunderland, or can the Black Cats reproduce the sort of magic that saw them defeat tonight's opponents 3-2 back in May to take a massive step towards top-flight survival under Sam Allardyce?

We are about to find out...

An audible sigh of relief from Chelsea fans greets Conte's pre-match confirmation that he does not believe Hazard's injury to be serious...

You can donate to Bradley Lowery's Fight here. He has also been receiving cards from all over the world of late in a bid to make his Christmas particularly special and to raise awareness regarding neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that affects children.

A lovely moment for brave mascot Bradley, who is battling neuroblastoma.

A very youthful feel to Sunderland's bench this evening....

Oscar missed that aforementioned win over West Brom due to illness, but you suspect that his absence tonight is for an altogether different reason.

According to widespread reports that circulated yesterday, the 25-year-old is on the verge of completing a lucrative £60m switch to ambitious Chinese Super League (CSL) contenders Shanghai SIPG.

"It's 90% right," he reportedly told the Brazilian media earlier today. "It just depends on some bureaucratic details."

John Terry remains sidelined with a buttock injury, but he was still the centre of attention at Conte's pre-match press conference amid reports that he has already been told that he will not be offered a new contract as a player.

Chelsea's head of communications Steve Atkins sought to nip that particular story in the bud. He said: "It's a little early in the season for stories like this to come out. It's the kind of discussion that we have with players in the last year of their contract, but much later in the season. That discussion has not taken place between John and the club. It's something that will be discussed later in the season, not for now."

The manager, meanwhile, stressed that Terry was still proving useful even during this latest absence.

"John is our captain. I think he's doing a good job. When he's not playing he's helping me in the changing room to send the right message to the players. He loves this club and I think it's important to be focused on the moment and not the future."

A nice milestone for the incredibly versatile Spanish defender, who has thrived on the right-hand side of Conte's back three over recent weeks.

"I'm really happy to have signed a new contract," he said on Tuesday after putting pen to paper on a new three-and-a-half year deal that will tie him to Chelsea until 2020.

"Since I arrived here my target was to progress as a player and win trophies. This new contract gives me the chance to continue my relationship with the club, that's what I wanted and obviously I'm really happy here.

"We've had some really good moments so far this season. From day one, we started working very hard. We have a new manager with new ideas and I'm really happy to be working with him. Obviously we can still improve but the long-term aim for us is to win trophies, that is what we all want, the players, manager and fans."

Hazard does indeed miss out for Chelsea as a result of that hefty challenge from Gareth McAuley. His place is taken by Willian, while Nemanja Matic drops to the bench in favour of Cesc Fabregas.

Commenting on rumours that the Spaniard could leave Stamford Bridge during next month's transfer window, Conte said: "In football, in my experience, it's very difficult to guarantee always something, so this is difficult.

"But Cesc is an important player for us. He played a key match against Manchester City, and played very well. In the last match he came on very well during the game. Tomorrow I have still to decide the starting XI, but Cesc is always a good choice, for me. He is an important player and in the squad of Chelsea. Now this is the reality."

The travelling fans will also be delighted to see Kurt Zouma return to the senior squad for the first time since suffering that awful serious anterior cruciate ligament injury against Manchester United in February. Ruben Loftus-Cheek also features as a substitute, but there is no place for fellow academy graduate Ola Aina.

Already without Lee Cattermole, Paddy McNair, Duncan Watmore and Lynden Gooch, Moyes, who revealed that Jack Rodwell was still likely a couple of weeks away from making his comeback following a hamstring injury, was notably coy on his other injury issues and stated that he "didn't want give Chelsea any more of an advantage if I can".

The Scot makes four changes to his team tonight, with John O'Shea, Adnan Januzaj and Jan Kirchhoff all coming into the starting XI. Fabio Borini makes his first appearance since August after recovering from a groin problem.

Steven Pienaar and Victor Anichebe drop out of the matchday squad altogether, while Didier Ndong serves a one-match suspension after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season against Swansea. Sebastian Larsson is on the bench.

Could O'Shea's return see Sunderland switch to five at the back?

Chelsea XI: Courtois, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill (c), Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso, Willian, Diego Costa, Pedro

Subs: Begovic, Ivanovic, Zouma, Chalobah, Matic, Loftus-Cheek, Batshuayi

Sunderland XI: Pickford, Jones, Van Aanholt, Djilobodji, Kone, O'Shea (c), Denayer, Kirchhoff, Januzaj, Defoe, Borini

Subs: Mannone, Love, Asoro, Larsson, Khazri, Maja, Honeyman

The teamsheet is in....

Things are not quite so rosy in the Sunderland garden, however. The Black Cats had actually pieced together a promising run of three wins from four matches after waiting almost three months to record their first league triumph under David Moyes, but much of the positivity surrounding that mini-resurgence seeped away with a dreadful 3-0 loss at fellow strugglers Swansea last weekend that saw them sink back to the foot of the league.

"We have very limited transfer funds available for January," chief executive Martin Bain said this week, in a clear message that Moyes is not simply going to be able to spend his way out of trouble.

"This is the time where we have to deal with the cards we have been dealt and get on with it. The funds are limited and it'll be a difficult journey, there is no doubt about that. These are times when you dig deep together."

Bain also lamented Sunderland's dire record of only making a profit on three of a total of 46 players shipped out in the last seven years, stating that it is "not a statistic that anyone can be proud about".

There has simply been no stopping Chelsea of late. Antonio Conte's side, who broke down the stubborn resistance of West Brom at Stamford Bridge on Sunday courtesy of a 12th goal of the season from fiery striker Diego Costa, have surged to the top of the table since making that hugely successful switch to the manager's preferred 3-4-3 system and are aiming to win a 10th successive top-flight match this evening and a fifth in a row away from home.

An added bonus for the Blues, expected to be minus Eden Hazard here with the Belgian having not trained due to a knock sustained against the Baggies, came at Goodison Park last night, where second-place Arsenal, trailing the leaders by three points, missed the chance to go top after suffering a 2-1 defeat at Everton.

Any worries over a potential points deduction were also soothed yesterday when Chelsea were only fined £100,000 after admitting an FA charge of failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour during a bad-tempered 3-1 win at Manchester City on 3 December.

City were fined £35,000 for their part in the ugly fracas sparked by Sergio Aguero's awful challenge on David Luiz.

Good evening and welcome to IBTimes UK's live coverage of a bumper December night of midweek Premier League football.

My hard-working sport desk colleagues Nick Howson, Tony Mogan and Eduardo Fernandez-Abascal will be keeping you fully up to date with goings on from around tonight's other seven fixtures, but here our focus falls solely on the Stadium of Light for a bottom vs top clash between Sunderland and Chelsea.

There is lots to talk about with regards to these two clubs and their differing directions, so stay tuned for all the latest injury concerns, pre-match statistics, top news lines and confirmed lineups. We will, of course, then have frequent live updates after kick-off at 19.45 GMT.

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