HAZ HAD IT
Heavenly Eden puts on masterclass to leave Tony facing axe
Foster 6; McAuley 5, Hegazi 5, Evans 6; Phillips 6 (McClean 84th), Krychowiak 4 (Yacob (46th) 6), Barry 5, Livermore 5, Gibbs 6; Rondon 6, Rodriguez 6 (Burke (70th) 6) foot to another Hazard effort. The only time Chelsea boss Antonio Conte had a fright was in the dying minutes as Morata was booked for a tackle and then foolishly kicked the ball away.
A few referees would have sent him packing but Jon Moss just spoke to skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and had a stern word with the striker.
Pulis said: “I think we have got better players this year than last year, I think the squad is stronger but we need results and we have not got the results we want.
“I have been in the game long enough to know if you get bad results. Everything’s about now and not what you have done in the past.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t got the results we were hoping for and I think the players worked hard but the goals were awful, the four goals were really poor goals.
“You have to defend better, it’s not just the first, it’s the second one, the third one and the fourth one – they shouldn’t be goals we are conceding.”
Conte slammed fixtures bosses and believes they could cost
Chelsea the title.
The Blues face a 6,000-mile round trip to Baku to face
Azerbaijan champions Qarabag
Courtois 6; Christensen 6, Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 6; Kante 6 (Willian (77th) 6), Zappacosta 6; Fabregas 8 (Drinkwater (67th) 6), Bakayoko 6, Alonso 6; Hazard 9 (Pedro (70th) 6), Morata 8 on Wednesday ahead of Saturday night’s showdown away to Liverpool.
They had to cope with a similar sleep-depriving journey at the start of October when they won 2-1 at Atletico Madrid before losing 1-0 at home to Manchester City.
Conte said: “We came back at 5am on the Thursday and played on the Saturday.
“They must pay more attention to these type of fixtures and give other teams the same facility. If we had won against Manchester City the distance between us is not so great. “Now we have to play on Wednesday night and then get back to London at five or six o’clock in the morning and then we have another great game on the Saturday. “Is it normal? If someone wants more balance in this league they must pay great attention to the fixtures.”
But at least the Italian was able to rest Hazard, N’Golo Kante and Fabregas, bringing them off early.
He added: “Wednesday’s game is the most important game of the season because we have the possibility with a win to go through to the next round in the Champions League
“To start an important week this way was very important for our confidence. This game became easy because we started very well with great focus and played very well.” Eden Hazard J Moss Tottenham (A), Nov 25 Qarabag (A), Nov 22