The real Hazard rules once more
Winger picks Burnley apart as Conte’s hard-working side show title ambitions
ANTONIO CONTE warned that Eden Hazard is only going to get better after the Belgian looked back to his imperious best as he took Burnley apart in this easy victory.
Hazard slumped from the Premier League’s star player when Chelsea won the title to one of the league’s worst last season. Constantly injured, he often made the decision to substitute himself in games when he was struggling.
But he scored a brilliant opener against Burnley and it was a wonder he did not end up in double figures by the end. ‘Eden is a fantastic player, working very well, with a great attitude,’ Conte said.
‘After the first day, I saw this. His will to work and improve and find a good shape very soon. But I can also tell that his performance can improve.’
Hazard was showing a return to his former genius — but don’t get Sean Dyche started on that. Burnley’s manager sparked debate when he complained that foreign coaches are hailed for assembling defensive, hard-working teams but when young English managers do the same they are considered primitive.
Conte insisted the difference comes down to facts, not words, and the evidence here was a 3-0 scoreline, 21 shots and nine of those on target.
On the pitch, it was like a pack of velociraptors — with Hazard leading at the front — eviscerating a diplodocus for 90 minutes until all that remained were a pile of bones. It was swift, ruthless, deadly. Hard to watch the mismatch of predator versus prey.
Hazard’s effort was superhuman and so was the way he scored on nine minutes; picking the ball up on half-way, sending opponents backtracking before cutting inside Michael Keane on the edge of the box and side-footing into the bottom right corner.
Willian, returning to the side following a calf injury, added a second just before half-time. Hazard passed in to Diego Costa on the edge of the box, he thought about shooting but passed the ball on to the Brazilian, who teased space from Stephen Ward and shot through the defender’s legs, across goal into the bottom left corner. A late deserved third goal came from substitute Victor Moses, who stretched to reach Pedro’s low ball from the left.
This was not a defensive Chelsea, this was the Chelsea of old, title-winning Chelsea who once played with flicks and tricks and swagger. They had not recorded successive victories at home last season; that has been rectified with their first home clean sheet since November last year.
As against Liverpool last week, Burnley’s possession was virtually non-existent, although this time their opponents savagely punished them to make it four wins from Conte’s first four games.
‘It’s a pity that now there is this break, this international break. After three league wins, I wanted to continue playing games,’ Conte said.
Hazard had another effort cleared off the line shortly after he opened the scoring. It was a fine passing move from left to right which culminated in Nemanja Matic crossing, Oscar flicking a header on to the little midfielder standing to the left of goal, who beat Tom Heaton but not Ben Mee as the defender cleared from the far corner.
There was no tactical genius from Dyche at the break, no reverting back to the Jurassic for Conte in the second half. Dyche continued to roar from the touchline in his hoarse way, but it changed little.
‘I thought first half was as poor as we’ve been in a year,’ Dyche conceded. ‘There’s a huge gulf between where we are as a club and Chelsea. When the whistle blows you want to be ready to perform but we weren’t, we didn’t perform well in the first half and you cannot do that. Add in some really poor decisions against a very strong side then you’re going to be in trouble and we were.’
Costa came close again six minMARK
utes into the second half. Hazard ran down the left, played the ball into the middle, Matic took a touch and Costa shot, but it was too near Heaton.
Five minutes later, Hazard waited on the edge of the box at a corner and struck a first-time volley which Heaton did well to save. The rebound fell to Terry but he prodded it over from close range. Moments later and from the same position, Hazard faked a shot to go past substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson and shot narrowly over.
Hazard was seemingly appearing in space everywhere and did so again soon after, this time seeing a low shot kept out by Heaton once again. Moses eventually finished them off with a minute remaining.
Such was Chelsea’s dominance, Hazard and Oscar had started trying rabonas. It was bordering on genius.