Eden Hazard inspired a dominant Chelsea performance this afternoon as the Blues hammer Brighton 4-0 at the Amex Stadium. The Belgian started the rout with a strike in the third minute before Willian notched a second soon after. The Seagulls were denied a penalty when Ezequiel Schelotto was brought down by Willy Caballero. They continued to show heart in the second half before Hazard killed off the contest with 10 minutes to play, slotting in a fine goal. Victor Moses put the icing on the cake with a neat finish to secure Chelsea’s first league win of 2018.
Here are the talking points of the match :
1.Hazard Fired Chelsea Ahead :
Moses raided down the right and fired a low cross into the box. The ball was deflected into the path of the Belgian and he made a move to shift on to his right foot. Hazard blasted his effort past Ryan to hand his team an early advantage. A clinical finish.
- Willian Smashed Another One For Chelsea In Quick Succession :
The Blues carved open the home side with a fantastic team move. Almost all of their attacking players were involved in the surge forward as Willian, Batshuayi and Hazard exchanged one-touch passes on the edge of the box. Willian was played into space inside the box and he made no mistake, blasting the ball into the top corner from Batshuayi’s layoff.
- Penalty Appeal Of Brighton Was Rejected :
Chelsea took a 2-0 lead into the break over Brighton at the Amex Stadium. The Blues dominated the opening stages of the match and scored twice inside the opening six minutes through Eden Hazard and Willian. Chris Hughton’s men battled back and should have had a penalty when Willy Caballero tripped Ezequiel Schelotto, but referee Jon Moss turned down their appeal. Chelsea have had opportunities to extend their advantage too.
- Two Sides Hit The Post :
Brighton came within inches of getting back into the game as Propper gave dive to make contact with Gross’ cross from the right. He guided his header towards the top corner, but was denied by the post. On the other side, Willian curled his effort over the wall and towards the bottom corner, but Ryan leaped to his left to palm the ball on to the post. The Aussie got the luck he deserves it bounced away from the Blues’ players in the box and the home side cleared the danger.
- Hazard Killed Off The Game In Brilliant Manner :
Chelsea had the decisive third goal as Willian releases the Belgian into space. He terrorised the Brighton defence, forcing them to back off towards the edge of the six-yard box. Hazard finished in style, placing his effort into the bottom corner. A super run and strike to effectively ended the game. Willian released Hazard into space and the Belgian did the rest.
- Moses Made It Four For Chelsea :
Musonda lifted a peach of a ball over the top of the Brighton defence and Moses on the charge does brilliantly to take it out of the air. His control was perfect and his second touch wasn’t bad either as he slotted his left-footed strike past Ryan with ease.