EDEN’S CHARGE FOR THE TITLE
Hazard hits Hammers on break as Chelsea restore 10-point lead
There was something horribly prophetic about this victory. Tottenham and Manchester City had scrapped and sweated on Sunday to reel in the league leaders, then Chelsea went out and calmly restored the gap at the top to 10 points.
The scoreline gives this match a sense of tension that is not truly merited. It was not that West ham were bad, more that Chelsea were comfortable and comfortably better. West ham’s goal after Andre Ayew fed Manuel Lanzini was scored in stoppage time and might have produced a grandstand finish, had most in the grandstand not already departed for the station.
They knew the game was won, probably from the 25th minute when Chelsea went ahead from the type of counter-attack that has become their calling card. It helps that they have N’Golo Kante, surely as much the Footballer of the Year in waiting as Chelsea are Champions-elect.
Double figures. Substantial supremacy at this stage in the season and Chelsea are worth every step of it. This was always going to be an uphill struggle for West ham without the suspended Michail Antonio and left to rely on Andy Carroll after a month out with injury, but Chelsea’s display was the epitome of cold professionalism.
Gary Cahill, in particular, was exceptional in the way he dealt with Carroll — although West ham’s reliance on aerial bombardment helped — and every Chelsea player, from Victor Moses to Diego Costa, put in a shift.
There is no complacency here, no hint of losing sight of basic strengths as they enter the home straight. Chelsea batted West ham aside with clinical counter-attacking football, killed the game off at the start of the second half and could have added a third on 67 minutes had Darren randolph not produced the save of the night from a Costa shot on the turn.
For West ham, it was another dispiriting evening in their new home. They worked hard, but were picked off, suffered an injury to captain Winston reid which curtailed his game midway through the second half, and may hear more of an attempted pitch invasion by an oaf, who took exception to the Chelsea players’ harmless celebration of their first goal.
had stewards not acted considerably faster than West ham’s defence in closing him out, it could have been far worse.
Not that Chelsea were fazed. They kept West ham at arm’s length for much of the night once in front, although Moses was called upon to block a Sofiane Feghouli shot after 61 minutes, before Jose Fonte headed over.
Ultimately, whatever possession West ham had did not amount to much in the way of chances, and while Slaven Bilic’s team were skilfully handled, Chelsea’s breakaways proved lethal. every misplaced pass, every foiled attack was in danger of being severely punished. All good teams have potency on the counter but, under Antonio Conte, Chelsea have turned it into an art form.
Chelsea’s manager arrived here knowing that, deployed carefully, he had a weapon that West ham could not repel.
The last time Conte visited the London Stadium, he stayed no longer than 45 minutes. he had seen enough by half-time of a heavy defeat by Manchester City, suggesting he had no great fear of what he might face in future.
A below- strength Chelsea may have lost here in the eFL Cup this season, but here were the league leaders, the Premier League version — and a very different proposition. So it proved.
Conte showed his disdain by starting Cesc Fabregas ahead of Nemanja Matic in midfield — a tactic he rarely uses against a team he considers a threat — yet West ham started brightly.
Chelsea at least knew they were in a match, not least when a tussle between Feghouli and Cahill left Chelsea’s captain with a shirt torn up the back to the collar, like a hospital gown. For some reason, Cahill was made to leave the pitch to change attire. It is amazing what football has rules for these days, when a player can get his head stamped on, or smacked with an elbow, unnoticed.
Yet the problem, not just for West ham but all of Chelsea’s opponents for the remainder of this season, is that no amount of pressure can ward off the threat of the counter-attack. One mistake is all it takes and in the 25th minute one mistake arrived.
robert Snodgrass, West ham’s best player up to that point, made a sloppy pass to Feghouli. It was cut out by — who else? — Kante, who fed eden hazard, swiftly and efficiently. he broke down the left, before slipping the ball inside to Pedro, who returned it with a lovely eye-of-the-needle pass.
hazard collected it just outside the area, took randolph out of the picture with a touch and passed the ball into an empty net. It was devastating to watch. Devastating to those Tottenham and Manchester City fans observing from sofas, fingers crossed for an upset, too.
After that, Chelsea assumed control with Cheikhou Kouyate lucky not to be booked for taking out hazard from behind but, again, possession did not convert to chances. It was West ham, in fact, who had the next decent strike — a one-two between Lanzini and
Mark noble that ended with the argentine firing over.
a minute later, chelsea should have made it 2-0, Hazard down the left again and crossing, only for costa to miss his kick. The ball fell to Moses at the far post and his shot was blocked by aaron cresswell, before Pedro forced an excellent save from randolph.
any optimism about a comeback was quickly erased after half-time. not for the first time this season, a sluggish opening five minutes proved costly for West Ham.
Snodgrass gave the ball away again, resulting in another chelsea counter- attack that led to a corner. Fabregas curled it in from the left, Pedro obiang got his head to it, but only to flick the ball across goal, and costa bundled it over the line with his knee.
It was not pretty, but chelsea do not have to be. They just have to keep playing like this and, sometime in the spring, the title will be theirs.