Chelsea maintained their unbeaten campaign with a comfortable win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Goals from Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba and Loic Remy helped the Blues to victory, which keeps them six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Blues started with 10 of the side that drew at Sunderland, despite the team showing signs of fatigue in the North East. The only change was an enforced one, with Diego Costa missing out through suspension. Didier Drogba was the man picked to replace Costa, and he delivered with a tireless performance that earned him a goal.
The hosts didn’t get off to the best of starts, however, with Spurs having most of the early chances. They grabbed a foothold in the game after about 15 minutes, and the opener followed soon after. Tottenham’s defence was spliced apart after a good move, which saw Hazard and Drogba trade passes before the Belgian powered the ball past Hugo Lloris, the start of an awful night for the French keeper.
The second goal followed just moments later, with Drogba applying the finishing touch this time. Lloris’s goal kick went straight to Hazard and he linked up well with Oscar, as they did all night and have for most of the season, and he fed the ball to the Ivorian. While the Chelsea legend has lost a little pace, he’s still deadly in front of goal and he fired low to double the home side’s lead.
Gary Cahill was hurt in a collision with Jan Vertonghen in the first half, and he had to come off at half time. Kurt Zouma replaced him at centre half, but by that stage the Blues were in total control of the game. They continued to push forward, but midway through the second half they were forced in to another change, with Didier Drogba having to come off for Loic Remy.
It was Remy who scored the final goal of the night, not long after he came off the bench. The Frenchman ran onto the ball in the box, held firm while being fouled by Vertonghen before outmuscling him and working space for a shot. His low effort sailed into the bottom corner, leaving Lloris helpless in goal.
That wrapped up the victory for Chelsea, and in the end it was a relatively comfortable affair. They kept Spurs down to just two shots on goal, and in recent weeks they’ve been impressive in not conceding shots let alone goals. Altogether it was a display with which Jose Mourinho will be delighted, with the Blues doing enough to win the game by half time, which should help fitness levels before their trip to Newcastle this weekend.
The only poor part of the performance was Nemanja Matic’s yellow card, which rules him out of the trip to Newcastle. He now has a one game suspension, and we could see a few more of those creeping up over the hectic Christmas run of games.
LCN Man of the Match: Eden Hazard