Chelsea avoided a late scare to defeat West Ham United 2-1 and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to ten points.
Antonio Conte stuck with the side that defeated Swansea City 3-1 last weekend. Cesc Fabregas, who made his 300th Premier League appearance against the Swans, was instrumental in the victory and subsequently kept his place in the side ahead of Nemanja Matic
It was the home side who started the sharpest, with Chelsea immediately finding their backs against the wall. The Hammers dominated possession early on, with the Blues failing to have a single effort on goal in the opening 20 minutes.
Despite the Hammers’ early pressure, Eden Hazard opened the scoring for the Blues on the breakaway. N’Golo Kante won the ball high up the field and set Hazard away on the counter attack. The Belgian linked smartly with Pedro, who slid the wall into his path. Hazard then rounded West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph and fired into the back of the empty net.
Hazard has now scored 17 goals in the Premier League this season, and has four assists to go with that. He is well on his way to having his highest scoring season in England’s top tier, the Belgian is well and truly back to his best – and Chelsea are reaping the rewards.
Chelsea almost grabbed another before the break. Victor Moses and Pedro were denied by Aaron Cresswell and Randolph in quick succession, with the Hammers narrowly avoiding seeing the deficit double.
N’Golo Kante was instrumental in Chelsea eventually finding a foothold in the game in the first period. The Frenchman made four successful tackles in the opening 45 minutes, twice as more than all of his teammates combined.
Merely five minutes into the second half, Diego Costa added a second. Hazard’s in-swinging corner was flicked on by Pedro Obiang, straight into the path of Costa. The Spaniard was not going to miss from inside the six-yard box, and prodded the ball into the back of the net with his knee.
Costa has now found the back of the net 17 times in the Premier League this campaign. He trails only Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot. If we do end up lifting the title come May, his contributions will have played a large part in our success.
He had an opportunity to bag his second of the game, but was denied emphatically by Randolph. Costa swivelled and released a thunderous shot which looked destined for the bottom corner. However, the Hammers stopper had different ideas. Randolph reached to his right and tipped Costa’s shot round the post.
Nemanja Matic replaced Pedro, and Conte switched to a 3-5-2 formation. From that point, Chelsea cantered to victory, dominating possession and giving West Ham no avenues back into the game.
That was, until Manuel Lanzini fired past Thibaut Courtois in the final seconds. An emphatic finish from Lanzini beat Courtois at his right-hand-side to deny the Belgian his 14th clean sheet in the Premier League this season. He will no doubt be frustrated to have conceded so late on.
Ultimately, it was Chelsea who are taking all three points back to West London this evening. After Manchester City and Tottenham closed the game at the top at the weekend, it was essential that there were no slip-ups. A classy and professional performance from Conte’s men, who now sit ten points clear.
