wigan 2-0

Independent:


Chelsea's Hazard proves he will be a genuine danger to all opposition
Wigan Athletic 0 Chelsea 2: £32m signing's vision and guile put Wigan on the road to defeat after just 100 seconds

Ian Herbert

We certainly know now that he will be what his name suggests, to any who are off the pace or off the ball when he takes it up. Eden Hazard will also be a substantial part of the nine-month story which lies ahead, even though the rapid start to Chelsea's Premier League campaign which he provided did not expand into a comprehensive statement of intent to challenge the Manchester duopoly.

He drifts into the game loosely, lazily almost, just as he drifts around the field without an anchor point, and sometimes it seems to matter to him; sometimes not. Players with peripheral vision can often be like that. But for half of this match Chelsea's £32m acquisition was very far beyond the grasp of the defence that Roberto Martinez has assembled for what felt like another terribly long road to survival, when they slipped 2-0 down inside seven minutes.
The game was 10 minutes old when Gary Caldwell clattered into the back of Hazard and though he was booked there seemed to be a consolation, because no one had managSed to touch the 21-year-old until then. The referee, Mike Jones, should have booked James McArthur for a similar offence just after the half-hour but opted instead to ask Caldwell, the captain, to rein the entire team in.
The Wigan manager Martinez spoke later of the edge Hazard brings to Chelsea's counter-attack – "with a bit of space, [he] can be unplayable in one-on-one" – though guile is the more significant aspect the Belgian brings to a midfield which once lacked that quality in all but Frank Lampard. If anything, the problem now is that it is coming from so many quarters that it may be difficult to provide some structure. Though Victor Moses glittered in a way that will make Dave Whelan's £9m price – reduced from £10m – seem attractive to Stamford Bridge, it is difficult to know exactly where he will fit in.
Where Moses is concerned, a rather fascinating sub-plot to the match unfolded in the directors' box – with the Chelsea secretary Dave Barnard and the technical director Michael Emenalo sitting across a narrow walkway from Whelan, who had described their Moses bids to date as unacceptable and observed that "if he comes up with a goal or two on Sunday, who's to say his value won't go up by a couple of million?"
After the Nigerian's shot from the left brought a clawing, one-handed stop from Petr Cech around the half-hour mark, the Chelsea contingent launched into a chorus of "Victor Moses – we'll see you next week". The 21-year-old caused as much trouble to Ashley Cole in the first half as he did when switching flanks to face Branislav Ivanovic in the second.
The way Chelsea began suggested that Roberto di Matteo has the finished product, in any case, and is ready to reduce to pulp his lofty position as the second favourite in the sack race.
Ivan Ramis, the defender Martinez stole in to sign ahead of West Ham from Real Mallorca, was the less celebrated of yesterday's two debutants, though those first seven minutes were a punishing reality check for the latest Spanish acquisition here. The game was barely into its second minute when Hazard, his back to goal in the centre circle, received a ball processed sharply out of defence through the excellent Juan Mata and Lampard, span on it to leave Ramis rooted, and thundered forward into the empty space that passed for a Wigan midfield. His spacial awareness allowed him to locate Ivanovic running into the inside channel to receive his pass and score, 100 seconds into Chelsea's season.
Perhaps Wigan had read too much into last Sunday's Community Shield, in which Hazard's game was notable for a fluffed back-heel that caused him to fall on his face, because his threat still had not dawned on them when his pace took him past Ramis and Maynor Figueroa into the penalty area, where Ramis tripped him. Lampard's penalty was converted low to Ali Al Habsi's left.
Martinez's players have spent too much time chasing almost lost causes in the past two years to concede an afternoon so soon, but what followed genuinely demonstrated that this is a stronger, faster Wigan, more inured now to the Premier League's rigours. Caldwell's roughing-up of Hazard helped but Shaun Maloney was busy and tidy around the area, McArthur confident in distribution and if Martinez had only been in possession of a more dangerous striker than Franco di Santo – formerly of Stamford Bridge – they might have pressed home one of the 13 chances which presented themselves, to Chelsea's six. The Argentinian's control was poor at two significant moments. His heavy first touch wasted a Figueroa pass which bisected the central defence.
Oscar, the £25m signing from Internacional, only needed a few minutes on the field in Hazard's place to latch on to a pass laid into his path by Fernando Torres and slide the ball a yard wide. Torres was unfortunate not to begin what should be the elementary task of surpassing last season's 11-goal tally – taking into the area a ball headed into his path by Ryan Bertrand, he shot only to see Ramis atone for his earlier error by clearing off the line.
Chelsea's new anthem for the season is "Champions of Europe – we know what we are"; others will also cotton on soon enough that an encounter with this side of Di Matteo's brings hazards which were not there last season.



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Guardian:


Chelsea glimpse good things from Eden Hazard and breeze past Wigan
Dominic Fifield

This contest had drifted just beyond the half-hour when the referee Mike Jones' patience finally snapped. Eden Hazard was face down on the turf, crumpled this time by James McCarthy's frantic tackle, but, rather than book the offender, Jones sought an explanation from the captain, Gary Caldwell, for Wigan's apparent strategy to nullify the Belgian. Judging by the panic that gripped the home players whenever the No17 picked up possession, any perceived plan that might have been hatched felt decidedly flawed.
Hazard illuminated this occasion on his Premier League debut, his play eventually fizzling out in a mixture of over-exuberance and fatigue as the adrenaline faded. But if this was the 21-year-old finding his feet, then Chelsea will be salivating over everything that awaits. At £32m the playmaker has not come cheap, and his price tag demands a smooth transition from Ligue 1 to English top flight, but this was a tantalising glimpse of his qualities.
By the time Caldwell had crashed crudely through his opponent's 5ft 7in frame 11 minutes in, earning a booking for the foul, Hazard had already generated his team's two-goal advantage. Wigan coped better with him as the game progressed but the damage had been done.
Better teams than Roberto Martínez's will be troubled by Chelsea's new-look attack this term once the recruits have settled as this set-up brims with guile and invention as the players spring on the counter. This was only a taster of their potential. In fact, everything Hazard delivered here came with the promise of even better to come. There was skill in his collection, his spin away from Ivan Ramis and his visionary pass between retreating defenders to the galloping Branislav Ivanovic, who gathered and converted the visitors' opener 110 seconds into the game. Ramis, his composure drained already by the ferocity of his first taste of English football, was soon lunging in to trip Hazard as he wriggled into the area, conceding a penalty that was dispatched with glee by Frank Lampard.
Hazard's flashes of creativity were delivered with such time and space as were allowed him by accommodating hosts. Arguably more impressive were the scuttling dribbles from deep thereafter once Wigan had caught their breath as the former Lille midfielder, with his low centre of gravity and the ball glued to his instep, defied the flying challenges of opponents. There were also the instinctive inter-plays with Juan Mata, the pair flitting from centre to right, dizzying their markers at will.
Oscar, the £20m Brazil No10, replaced Hazard with 26 minutes to play and, in his first real involvement, seared away from Ramis to fizz a low shot wide of the far post from an unkind angle. This was all too traumatic for the Spaniard. "I brought another guy on who's not bad himself," said Roberto Di Matteo of Oscar's arrival. Quite where he will cram all this talent into his starting lineup remains to be seen, particularly if interest is maintained in Wigan's Victor Moses.
The player might be unsettled by Chelsea's interest – a deal still remains likely before the end of the month – but had been eager to feature here and provided nuisance value aplenty, reminding Chelsea of his pedigree. The Londoners' sporting director, Michael Emenalo, and chief executive, Ron Gourlay, watched on from the directors' box as the former England under-21 international's bursts down the flank, scorching Ryan Bertrand and Lampard on separate occasions, left Chelsea vulnerable even if Wigan lacked the bite to capitalise. Franco Di Santo's prodded attempt beyond Petr Cech, hoofed from the line by David Luiz, was as close as they came when Moses was not involved. Their own attacking reinforcement, Arouna Koné, will need time but did test Cech from the winger's centre.
Martínez could draw encouragement from his team's response to a dismal opening, their resolve admirable even if recovering from their sloppy start always felt improbable against opponents of this calibre. "It couldn't have been a harder test: 2-0 down to the European champions after six minutes," said the Wigan manager. "We could have felt sorry for ourselves but we showed character and I'm proud of my players for that. We were just caught up in the emotion of starting the league and had seven minutes where our hearts ruled our heads. After that we got back to doing what we do."
Hazard is in the process of proving his own capabilities, as Oscar and the injured Marko Marin will be when offered their own opportunities. This team feels refreshed as an attacking unit and, when they click, they will be feared. In their Belgian alone they clearly have a player capable of enthralling and captivating the Premier League.


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Telegraph:

Wigan Athletic 0 Chelsea 2
By Chris Bascombe

It has been a long wait, but Roman Abramovich finally has his hands on a prize he has craved for years.

A multi-million pound signing, coveted by every major European club, who genuinely looks value for money.

Given the number of stings he has suffered in the transfer market recently, particularly when Andrei Shevchenko and Fernando Torres are considered, the Chelsea owner must have been watching Eden Hazard’s Premier League debut with a certain degree of trepidation. However, such concerns will have evaporated within 90 seconds at the DW Stadium.

That was how long it took for Hazard, with Wigan Athletic’s debutant centre-half Iván Ramis breathing on his pristine new Chelsea jersey, to turn exquisitely and speed away before sending Branislav Ivanovic clear for Chelsea’s opening goal.
The applause which followed was directed at the set-up as much as the emphatic finish.
 
Five minutes later Hazard faced the same opponent and temporarily made the former Majorca defender look as if he had wandered into the arena fresh from a neighbouring pub game rather than the more classy venues of La Liga.

Hazard was clattered on the edge of the box, Frank Lampard doubled Chelsea’s lead with the resulting penalty and Wigan’s hopes of starting the new season with the same sparkle they had finished the last one in May were already on the slab.

Chelsea fans acclaimed the latest splendid acquisition from the French league, while Wigan resorted to more brutal means in an effort to nullify Hazard’s influence, engaging in a rotation policy in which their players’ tried to kick him out of the game. It worked up to a point as he gingerly exited proceedings after 63 minutes, the Premier League failing to grant the 21-year-old Belgian as gracious a welcome as he had just offered it.

If Hazard redefines Chelsea’s style and becomes the focal point of their next title-winning side, those who witnessed his instant impact will place this league debut on the same pedestal as those of the greatest overseas imports.

By the time he had departed, the best of his work completed in that opening spell, he had shown enough to suggest his class will enhance

English football as much as Stamford Bridge.
It posed the question as to whether Roberto Di Matteo’s side have been underestimated in pre-season. Despite another vast outlay they have been so far under the radar when it comes to title predictions they have resembled a stealth fighter.

Rarely have a club who can boast the title champions of Europe appeared so underrated, the broad presumption that they will finish third to the Manchester domestic scrap damning them with the most faint praise.

Perhaps it is the loss of Didier Drogba. Maybe a defence including the erratic David Luiz simply is not trusted enough over a period of eight months.

It cannot be ignored as, for all their early comfort, they still required a smart Petr Cech save to deny Victor Moses, and Luiz cleared a tame Franco Di Santo shot off the line in first-half stoppage time to protect a dominant position.

The most feasible explanation for the lingering suspicion surrounding their credentials is that it all still feels a bit interim.

Di Matteo is in a far healthier position than his predecessors in that he already knows how long he has left in the job – until Pep Guardiola ends his sabbatical. You get the feeling he must not only assemble a team for the future, but make them instantly successful to ensure someone else does not reap longer-term rewards.

Having achieved it in Europe at his first attempt – and won the FA Cup – it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that the Italian is a habitual trophy accumulator whose basic understanding of how to organise disparate elements sets him apart from his predecessor.

It was not just Hazard who shone, even though he was the architect of the goals. Juan Mata, in a similar floating role, showed enough craft to suggest his second season will be more consistent than his first.

If so, it will assist Torres, who now has a side constructed to assist him rather than one demanding he reinvent his game. Torres was unfortunate not to celebrate his first goal of the season when Mata sent him scurrying clear on 63 minutes. The Spanish striker was brave and tenacious to nudge the ball beyond Ali Al-Habsi, but Ramis made amends for early indiscretions by clearing off the line.

Wigan recovered well. Roberto Martínez’s side do not tend to find their best form until April, anyway. Had Jordi Gómez’s acrobatic volley on 85 minutes set up a frantic finale, the visitors’ victory may not have carried such an air of comfort. But by the end, it bore the hallmarks of a Chelsea statement of intent.


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Mail:

Wigan 0 Chelsea 2: It's all too easy for Eden as Blues get off to flyer

By Chris Wheeler

Someone at Chelsea ought to have a word with Eden Hazard this week and tell him that life in English football won’t always be this easy.

Certainly not based on what their £32million summer signing achieved in less than seven minutes at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

After that, Wigan woke up and more than made a game of it. But if you give the champions of Europe a two-goal headstart there is usually only one outcome, and so it proved here.

Hazard set up Branislav Ivanovic for the first goal and won the penalty for Frank Lampard to claim the  second. As first impressions go, it was quite a way to make a Premier League debut.

Wigan’s response was to kick the Belgium star. Frequently. Hazard will not feel like he has had an easy ride when he gets up this morning and inspects the back of his legs.

It will be by no means the last time his opponents resort to such measures because Hazard is certainly a handful.

Playing alongside Juan Mata and tucked in behind Fernando Torres, his speed of movement and thought were simply too much for Wigan at times. He has that low centre of gravity and explosive burst of pace which has been the trademark of so many great players over the years.

At one point midway through the first half, Hazard pushed the ball past James McArthur on the touchline and was round him so quickly he was away before the youngster even had a chance to turn around.

He could have played the whole game but Roberto Di Matteo decided 64 minutes was enough and replaced him with another new signing, Oscar, the £25m Brazilian.

‘I brought in another guy who’s not bad himself,’ said the Chelsea boss afterwards.

However, sensing that Hazard was less than impressed to be leaving the stage, Di Matteo grabbed him as he left the pitch and had an encouraging word in his ear.
Hazard’s water bottle went flying on his way back to the bench but it was a rare moment of clumsiness on his part rather than an act of petulance.

While he could sit back and reflect on an impressive debut, it was at the expense of Wigan debutant Ivan Ramis. There was one minute and 40 seconds on the clock when Mata fed Lampard and he played the ball into Hazard inside the centre circle.

Ramis raced in to intercept, but Hazard turned him with ease and played a raking 40-yard pass that caught Maynor Figueroa out of position and left Ivanovic galloping free on goal.

The Chelsea defender, cleared to play following his red card in the Community Shield, almost stumbled but steadied himself before drilling the ball inside Ali Al-Habsi’s left post.

Ramis had been doubtful with a hamstring strain before the match and looked slightly off the pace again when Chelsea added a second shortly afterwards.

Hazard teased the Wigan defence on the edge of the box and, having resisted Figueroa’s attempts to muscle him off the ball, he was sent tumbling by a clumsy challenge from the big Spanish defender.

It was an easy decision for referee Mike Jones to give — ‘spot on’, according to Roberto Martinez — and Lampard made no mistake.

After waiting all summer for the big kick-off, Wigan were suddenly kicking off for the third time in seven minutes.

‘We were ruled by our hearts not our heads,’ said Martinez. ‘Sometimes you can get away with that and still have a big say in the game. Against a team like Chelsea they will punish you massively.’

The Wigan boss was proud of his players for not capitulating and they certainly did not lack fight. Gary Caldwell was the first name in the referee’s book for a brutal tackle on Hazard, and McCarthy could easily have followed when he hacked down Chelsea’s star man.
But this one was following a familiar script. Chelsea have not been beaten on the opening day since 1998, while only once in their eight Premier League seasons have Wigan kicked off with a victory.

Wigan dominated for long periods without creating too many chances. Victor Moses fired in a fierce effort from a tight angle wide out on the right which brought a smart save from Petr Cech and a witty chant from the Chelsea fans who hope he will complete an £8.5m move to Stamford Bridge before the end of the transfer window. ‘Victor Moses, we’ll see you next week,’ they sang.

Cech had to be on his toes to keep out Franco Di Santo’s effort, although the Wigan striker will rue taking the ball wide after  Figueroa’s pass had been helped into his path by David Luiz’s attempted interception.
 
Substitutes Jordi Gomez and Arouna Kone went close with  spectacular efforts in the last 10 minutes but Chelsea could just as easily have increased their lead — not least when Torres raced clear and nudged the ball past Al-Habsi, only to see Ramis clear off the line.

It was the nearest Torres came to a goal as he began to emerge from Didier Drogba’s shadow with a low-key performance. He will certainly have to do better than this, but that’s for another day.

Chelsea — and Hazard — are up and running.


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Sun:

Wigan 0 Chelsea 2


By DAVID FACEY

LWHAT a way to introduce yourself to the Premier League!

Eden Hazard’s first touch was a sublime flick and turn in the centre circle that left Wigan defender Ivan Ramis for dead.
It was one of those ‘Wow!’ moments — and there will be plenty more on this evidence.
Chelsea’s £35million new boy followed up that moment of magic with a superb pass into the path of Branislav Ivanovic, who smashed the ball past advancing keeper Ali Al Habsi.
Ramis, bought from Mallorca for a rather more down-to-earth £4m, was clearly still fuming at having been made to look a fool by Hazard when the Belgian jinked his way into the Wigan box after seven minutes.

Hazard was enjoying himself, turning Maynor Figueroa inside out and Ramis dived in and sent the 21-year-old flying.
Frank Lampard duly dispatched the penalty and it was effectively game over — two telling touches from Hazard, two goals, three points and a very decent first return on Chelsea’s massive summer investment.
Undeterred by the penalty, Wigan clearly decided the only way to stop Hazard was to kick him up in the air.
Latics skipper Gary Caldwell was booked for charging through the midfielder from behind.

Caldwell was then called over by ref Mike Jones and told to calm his team-mates down after James McCarthy and James McArthur hacked down Hazard.

That rough treatment may have been one of the reasons Roberto Di Matteo took him off after 67 minutes and replaced him with Oscar — a relative snip in the summer sales at £25m.
Lamps was gushing about his new team-mate as he presented him with the man-of-the-match award.
He said: “Eden was brilliant. What a debut. That spin and the speed he showed to get away from his man was the sort of thing Chelsea fans are crying out for.
“It’s never easy for someone to come into the Premier League at such a young age and make an impact, no matter how good you are but it’s a pleasure to play with him.”

That magnificent opening burst was pretty much the end of Chelsea as an attacking threat.
The visitors seemed content to sit back on their lead and invite Wigan to break them down — tactics that might have backfired if the home side had made the most of the chances that came their way.
Franco Di Santo, in particular, had plenty of opportunities to embarrass his former team-mates but lacked the killer touch.
Before kick-off, Di Santo had been presented with the Wigan Golden Boot by chairman Dave Whelan as their top scorer last season.
The Argy striker hit the net seven times — and it was easy to see why he did not make it to double figures. He planted one header on to the roof of the net, allowed Lampard to block an angled shot and squandered his best opening with a clumsy first touch that took him far too close to Petr Cech.

Substitute Jordi Gomez could have bagged a hat-trick in the closing stages as Wigan threw everything at the Blues.
And he will still be wondering how he headed wide from Emmerson Boyce’s cross. But you always got the feeling Chelsea could have raised their game if Wigan had pulled one back.
Oscar almost made an immediate impact too, bursting through the home defence before firing inches wide of the far post.
And Fernando Torres was close to opening his account when he won the race to claim Ryan Bertrand’s flick and stabbed the ball past Al Habsi.
But Ramis finally got something right as his despairing lunge allowed him to hook the ball clear just before it crossed the goal-line.
Wigan will still have felt they deserved something from the game after managing 13 attempts at goal to Chelsea’s six.
And they could also reflect on the fact Ivanovic was lucky to be playing as his red card in last Sunday’s Community Shield did not bring him a ban.

It was also a mystery how the full-back managed to find himself ahead of Hazard less than two minutes into the game — although Lampard insisted it was no great shock to him.
He added: “It wasn’t too much of a surprise to be honest because Branners has got the legs and pace to get up there.
“But it was the turn and the pass that made the goal and set us up for an excellent win.
“We knew it would be tough here because of the way Wigan finished last season like a train. It was pretty even after that first 10 minutes or so.”

As for Hazard, his English is not as dazzling as his footwork — yet.
But he still managed to admit: “I was very happy with my first game.”

A lot of people, including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, the man who stumped up the money to lure him from Lille, must have shared that view.

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

STAR MAN — EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea)

WIGAN: Al Habsi 6, Alcaraz 6, Caldwell 6, Ramis 5, Boyce 7, McCarthy 6, McArthur 6 (Watson 5), Figueroa 6, Maloney 7 (Gomez 5), Di Santo 5 (Kone 6), Moses 6. Subs not used: Pollitt, Jones, Crusat, Boselli. Booked: Caldwell, McArthur.

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Ivanovic 6, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Cole 8, Lampard 6, Mikel 6, Hazard 9 (Oscar 6), Mata 6 (Meireles 5), Bertrand 6, Torres 6. Subs not used: Turnbull, Essien, Ferreira, Sturridge, Cahill. Booked: Luiz, Lampard.