IRREPLACEABLE
HAZARD HAILED BY CHELSEA BOSS AFTER WONDER GOAL
CHELSEA will miss him if he goes. We all will. Even by Eden Hazard’s elevated standards, this was on a different plane. His manager Maurizio Sarri described the brilliant Belgian as irreplaceable last night. He was not wrong.
Not that Mark Noble, Declan Rice, Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna and Ryan Fredericks appreciated Hazard’s splendour.
He left all five in his wake to score a mesmeric solo goal which invigorated Chelsea’s hopes of Champions League qualification.
It looks increasingly likely that Hazard will sign for Real Madrid this summer. There are still hurdles to overcome before the Belgian becomes a Galactico — namely Chelsea’s £ 100million valuation.
But Real want Hazard and — unfortunately for Chelsea and English football — Hazard wants Real, although he insisted last night that he is still to make a final decision on his future.
His first goal of a brace was, undoubtedly, one of the best he has scored. And the way he conducted Chelsea’s play last night, was poetry in motion.
But Chelsea are confident there will be life after Hazard, underlined by Sarri’s decision to keep faith with academy products Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek last night following their promising displays in the win over Brighton.
But replacing Hazard appears the impossible job and, of course, it will be impossible if FIFA refuse Chelsea’s appeal over their twowindow transfer ban this week.
‘From the technical point of view, we can’t afford to lose him,’ said Sarri. ‘Also because it’s impossible to find another Hazard. At the moment there isn’t another Hazard, the level is so high.
‘You’d have to find two players to make the level of Hazard. So I hope Hazard can stay here, otherwise we’ll have to try something different.
‘I’m sure the club doesn’t want to sell him. But, of course, we all have to respect his decision, I think. If he wants to have another experience, we’ll respect that. We’ll try, of course, in any way to convince him to stay, but it’s not easy.’
Bragging rights aside, Chelsea unquestionably had far more riding on this than West Ham and victory propelled them above Tottenham into third place — an unlikely scenario only a few weeks ago when h S Sarri’s i’ reign i appeared dt to be crumbling.
Not that any of this came as a crumb of comfort to West Ham or their supporters, who simply hate losing to Chelsea.
And there were further concerns for manager Manuel Pellegrini, who revealed that Samir Nasri sustained a calf injury as he warmed up as a substitute during half-time at Stamford Bridge.
Amid Hazard’s masterclass, an intriguing battle between two of England’s brightest midfielders — Loftus- Cheek and Rice — unfolded.
The Chelsea star just about edged the duel, although Rice was one of West Ham’s top performers. But that was all a sideshow, with Hazard as the headline act.
An early N’Golo Kante effort aside, the encounter got off to a mundane start — until the 23rd minute, when Hazard shifted through the gears.
There looked little danger when Loftus-Cheek gave his team-mate the ball around 35 yards out.
Seconds later, having bamboozled five West Ham players, Hazard was stroking his finish past Lukasz Fabianski.
Stamford Bridge erupted and rightly so for a moment of genius, a goal of the season contender.
West Ham could not contain Chelsea’s little magician. Higuain hit the post after Hazard’s pinpoint lofted pass before the playmaker was denied what looked a clear penalty after Marko Arnautovic inexplicably barged the attacker inside the area.
Fabianski had to tip over Hudson-Odoi’s fierce effort in the 40th minute after Hazard’s eye-of a-needle pass, although the keeper nearly undid his work from the resultant corner taken by a certain diminutive Belgian.
Higuain — who has made clear his intention to stay at Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis this summer — was then denied by Frederick’s brilliant, goal- saving block as Chelsea went in 1-0 ahead at the break.
Chelsea deserved more for their first-half showing, and in the home dressing room, Sarri may have been wondering if his team would be left to rue their glut of missed opportunities.
Those concerns nearly came home to roost in the 55th minute when Kepa produced fantastic save to deny Manuel Lanzini before the Spaniard stopped Felipe Anderson’s curling effort soon after.
That was always the danger for Chelsea, though Loftus- Cheek missed a golden chance to extend Chelsea’s lead. Aaron Cresswell
smashed an effort just wide as Chelsea’s anxiety started to grow, amplified by the boos that rang round Stamford Bridge towards Sarri’s decision to replace loft-us-Cheek with ross Barkley in the 70th minute.
Chelsea hearts were in their mouths again in the 83rd minute when Emerson deflected Arnautovic’s header narrowly wide of the goal.
But Hazard, fittingly, clinched the deal in the final minute, driving home Barkley’s cross to seal victory and his own captivating display.