Brighton 4-0

Telegraph:

Brighton 0 Chelsea 4: Eden Hazard at unstoppable best as visitors take advantage of accommodating hosts

Ben Rumsby

Who needs a new striker when Eden Hazard is in the mood and the other team make it so easy to score?

Having been linked with almost every target man going after failing to win a game outside a penalty shoot-out this year, it took less than six minutes for Chelsea to show they could cope without one here.

It helped that Hazard was at his  unstoppable best and that Brighton were also so accommodating.

Manager Chris Hughton’s decision to axe half his outfield line-up and switch to a three-man defence backfired badly at the home side’s end of the field. So much so that a Chelsea team that had failed to score in three of their past five games, and were without the suspended Alvaro Morata and Pedro, looked like finding the net every time they attacked.

Hazard did so inside three minutes, shifting the ball expertly and drilling home after Dale Stephens had unwittingly prodded Victor Moses’s cross straight at him.

The Belgian was at the heart of a  sublime second as well, a one-touch box-of-tricks of a move involving Michy Batshuayi and Willian, with a finish to match by the Brazilian.


And Hazard scored a trademark third 13 minutes from time, Willian’s raking pass finding the tricky attacker, who raced goalward, waited for goalkeeper Matthew Ryan to commit, and passed the ball into the net.

The only goal that Hazard was not involved in was the fourth goal at the death, which came courtesy of sub Charly Musonda picking out Moses with an even better ball over the top, which the full-back took in his stride and side-footed into the corner.

Chelsea could have had even more goals but for Ryan, who saved from Tiemoue Bakayoko and also Willian, brilliantly tipping the latter’s free-kick on to a post.

Manager Antonio Conte refused to join the Hazard love-in afterwards, calling for all his goalscorers to refocus ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal.

“For us, it’s important that Hazard, Willian and Moses all score,” he said. “But, from tomorrow, every single player that scored today has to forget he scored and must try and score again against Arsenal.”

The Italian was more keen to praise the character of a squad ravaged by  injury and suspension, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois joining Morata, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill on the sidelines.

“Despite this, we won 4-0,” Conte said. That means that every player  deserves his chance, and every player has to fight to play. Now we have to continue in this way.


“Every player today showed a great responsibility. For this reason, I’m very happy because every player felt this  responsibility. To grow in this aspect is very important for us.”

If there was any part of the field in which this game highlighted Chelsea’s need for reinforcements, it was in goal, judging by Willy Caballero’s antics in Courtois’s absence.

He was extremely lucky not to  concede a penalty when he palmed the ball straight to Ezequiel Schelotto  before lunging at the full-back – a Video Assistant Referee would not have overturned a spot-kick award.

The same might well be said about another first-half call when the same Brighton player appeared to be shoved by Bakayoko, only for referee Jon Moss to wave play-on and book him for his furious protests.

Hughton said: “I thought they were both penalties. I was probably more disappointed with the first one because it was an incident waiting to happen.

“The goalkeeper came out and there was always going to be a decision to be made. If that goes in, it’s 2-1. It gives you that bit of momentum and something to search for.

“Hugely disappointed. We had a few opportunities, two penalty appeals. Hence, why I don’t think it’s a true  reflection of the game.”

Three days after Chelsea became the victim of the first error of the VAR trials taking place in the FA Cup and League Cup, Conte said only that he thought the two incidents were the kind technology would help clear up in future.

“I can tell you that the new system – if we learn to use it very quickly – can help a lot to avoid big mistakes if there are big mistakes,” he said.


VAR could have also seen Hazard booked for simulation when he initiated contact on the edge of the box.

Caballero was not all bad either, producing a superb reaction save from Tomer Hemed’s header from six yards, clawing the ball away with his left hand having already moved to his right. But Hemed should have scored for a team whose own striker search ended on Friday with the £14 million club record signing of Jurgen Locadia, who was  paraded before kick-off.

The only side in the league without a point against any of the top six and  having won only one of their previous 12 games – failing to score in eight of them – Brighton also hit the woodwork through a Davy Propper header and saw the omnipresent Schelotto poke straight at Caballero.

By that stage, Chelsea had already lost Andreas Christensen to a nasty head injury after he was led off the field by Moss, having tried to play on. The Denmark defender had been allowed to continue following an assessment and his departure raised questions about that call.

Chelsea were adamant afterwards that all the correct protocols had been followed and that Christensen had a “contusion” rather than concussion, which would have ruled him out of Wednesday’s game.

“We made a substitution, but the player didn’t want to come off,” Conte said. “The referee tried to force this substitution. It was a simple contusion. The player is OK. From tomorrow’s training session, he’s ready.”

Brighton threw on midfielder Beram Kayal and top scorer Glenn Murray with a quarter of the game remaining but any faint hope was snuffed out by Hazard and Moses.



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Mail:


Brighton 0-4 Chelsea: Eden Hazard brace inspires Antonio Conte's side to a first win in five games as Willian and Victor Moses also find the net


By Riath Al-samarrai for The Mail on Sunday


Chelsea have sent for a giant but this attack will always be at its best when the ball finds their little man of wonders. What a glorious mess Eden Hazard made of Brighton here.

He was truly exceptional, a 5ft 7in tornado that swirled into town and left Chris Hughton repeatedly shaking his head at the carnage of it all. What else can a manager do when such a talent is in such a vicious mood?

There were his two goals, scored after the 3rd and 77th minutes, each of which was excellent in its execution. There was also his backheel contribution to Willian’s strike three minutes after the opener, which might rank as the best team goal of the season.


Magnificent stuff even before you factor in the single dummy that threw three Brighton players off balance and his numerous other collaborations with Willian, his partner in a quite thrilling series of crimes. Neither man is taller than 6ft; each of them landed heavyweight punches on a team that usually looks extremely robust at this ground.

Whatever can be offered by the big new striker that Antonio Conte has requested - the rather leftfield list put forward to him by the club has included Edin Dzeko, Christian Benteke, Andy Carroll and Peter Crouch – they will not play with anything like the same razzmatazz.

Of course, that is not to denigrate the idea of a Plan B as a bad one, because it does make sense. Michy Batshuayi has been poor as a target man, even if this was one of his better games, and the suspended Alvaro Morata is horribly out of form. When nothing is working, they need something new to turn to and a big man would offer variety.

But there is also no denying how wonderful Chelsea look going forward when Plan A is going well and this game was an example of that. Indeed, when they attack as well as they did here, why would you ever want the ball to leave the ground?

That is not to say their first win in six matches in all competitions was easy - Chelsea’s backline was often poor and Brighton were always game. If the home side had more luck with the officiating, then who knows, because they were simply robbed of a penalty when Willy Caballero tripped Ezequiel Schelotto on 15 minutes. Certainly a VAR would not have missed the obvious.

A second appeal by Schelotto 20 minutes later against Tiemoue Bakayoko was also waved off, leaving something of a bad taste in Hughton’s mouth.

‘I was probably more disappointed with the first but I thought they were both penalties,’ he said.

Neither was given and so Chelsea regain their footing in the fight for the top four and quell some of the unease that quickly tends to spread at this club. Conte was defensive of the club’s form after this one, pointing to a 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions, even if his statistics were a little out.

When asked if the club had been in ‘crisis’, the Italian said: ‘Whoever said this has to pay attention to the stats. We're unbeaten in 14 games. It's normal that the press try to see the negative aspect and don't see the positives. But this team, with many problems, are unbeaten in 14 games in every competition.

‘This means we are performing important work despite five players out: Cesc Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater, (Thibaut) Courtois, two suspensions in Pedro and Morata. Despite this, we won 4-0.’

Against the backdrop of those injuries and suspensions, this was an impressive result. Even more so considering the holes in the Chelsea defence, underpinned by Caballero, whose repeated mishandling of high balls landed them in trouble.

Their first goal came on three minutes, with Hazard in the right place to tuck away a Victor Moses cross that had been deflected his way by Dale Stephens.

But the second - now that was something. All Brighton did wrong was give in to a little pressure, with Lewis Dunk playing carelessly near the halfway line. Ordinarily, they might have been fine given the traffic in Chelsea’s path to goal, but the burst from Willian and two backheels in sequence by Hazard and Michy Batshuayi saw to that.

In a blink, that rotation of one-touch passes had cut Brighton apart and put Willian in possession just inside the area. He lashed his shot into the top corner. Beautiful.

Brighton were denied their penalty appeals in pursuit of a way back and also caused serious scares when Tomer Hemed had a header saved and Davy Propper hit the bar. Chance creation wasn’t a problem but conversion has been a recurring issue this season, so the hope is that Jurgen Locadia, their new £14.1m signing from PSV Eindhoven, will drastically improve the productivity of this side. They need it.

Without goals, they were further picked apart by Hazard, whose run and strike for Chelsea’s third was a delight. Victor Moses buried the fourth after a lovely ball over the top by Charly Musonda.

Not bad from a side looking to revamp their attack.


Brighton (3-4-2-1): Ryan 7; Goldson 5.5, Duffy 5.5, Dunk 5; Schelotto 7, Stephens 6, Propper 6.5, Suttner 6.5; Gross 6 (Kayal 68, 6), March 7 (Izquierdo 83); Hemed 5.5 (Murray 68, 6)

Subs not used: Hunemeier, Baldock, Rosenior, Krul

Booked: Schelotto, Duffy, Goldson

Manager: Chris Hughton 6.5


Chelsea (3-4-3): Caballero 6; Azpilicueta 6, Christensen 7 (Luiz 58, 6), Rudiger 6; Moses 6.5, Bakayoko 7, Kante 7, Alonso 6.5 (Zappacosta 75, 6); Willian 8 (Musonda 81), Batshuayi 7, Hazard 8.5

Subs not used: Eduardo, Sterling, Ampadu, Barkley.

Goalscorers: Hazard 3, 77, Willian 8, Moses 89

Manager: Antonio Conte 7


Referee: Jonathan Moss 5

MOM: Eden Hazard



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Observer:

Eden Hazard at the double after Chelsea punish Brighton’s slack start


Dominic Fifield at the Amex Stadium



This was not necessarily the breeze for the champions suggested by the scoreline yet, in the end, Chelsea’s first league win of the year felt restorative and will be remembered most for the exquisitely incisive rat-a-tat of passes which earned them breathing space.

There was something hypnotic about that early exchange between Willian, Michy Batshuayi and the irrepressible Eden Hazard, a flurry of accurate touches fizzed first time at breakneck speed while six Brighton players, all in the vicinity, were left feeling dizzy.

None came close to an interception, each Chelsea touch dropping them further off the pace, before Batshuayi eventually flicked Willian free to rip a finish gloriously beyond the diving Mathew Ryan from just inside the area. This attack has been toothless over recent weeks, their centre-forwards enduring mid-season crises of confidence and the approach play too often running aground. Those deficiencies had prompted the emergency calls querying the availability of Andy Carroll and Peter Crouch, plus Christian Benteke and Edin Dzeko. But this was also a timely reminder of the current crop’s devastating best.


Chelsea are a team capable of slicing opponents apart on the counter, and a collective inspired by Hazard’s jaw-dropping talent. The Belgian had already scored by the time he joined the celebratory huddle sparked by Willian’s fine finish. Having gratefully accepted Victor Moses’ cutback, prodded to him tentatively by Dale Stephens on the stretch, Hazard sent the 100th league goal of a career spent in France and England beyond Ryan.

“Against a player of his ability, you just hope you have a good day and can stifle them a bit with your system, or individuals can,” Chris Hughton said. “You know he’ll produce moments like he did. You just hope they don’t lead to goals. Unfortunately, today they did.”

His 101st league goal would be scored before the end, Hazard scurrying unchecked from inside his own half before cutting across the penalty area and finishing crisply into the far corner. Whenever the visitors were permitted a gallop, they revelled. Ryan alone denied Willian and Batshuayi further reward, the former after another glorious move comprising a dummy from Hazard, a clever touch from Batshuayi, and a return skip and pass from the No 10. There is no living with Chelsea when they find rhythm as upbeat as this.

Brighton have lost all seven games against the top six this season, scoring once, though this was no meek surrender. Until wilting at the last, the hosts had carried a threat, usually from Pascal Gross’s delivery, but were undermined by profligacy and, as Hughton suggested, refereeing oversights.

Tomer Hemed’s inability to bury a close-range header from a Gross cross felt wasteful, providing another reminder of why Jürgen Locadia, a club record £14m signing from PSV Eindhoven who was paraded on the turf before kick-off, could be key once recovered from a hamstring injury.

Willy Caballero was unconvincing, particularly at set plays, as he deputised in the Chelsea goal for the injured Thibaut Courtois, who should return from an ankle injury on Wednesday at Arsenal. Davy Pröpper would loop a header on to the top of a post early in the second half, which summed up Brighton’s luck.


Their real frustration lay at Jon Moss’s refusal to award a penalty after the excellent Ezequiel Schelotto had tumbled over Caballero’s outstretched left leg. The goalkeeper later said “it didn’t feel as if I touched him” but, even if the referee’s view of the incident had been blocked, his assistant was perfectly placed to see the contact which brought the Italy international down.

“He was 20 yards away from it,” Hughton said. “It was an incident waiting to happen and there was always going to be a decision to make, so I’m hugely disappointed.” Schelotto would be booked for dissent before the break after tangling with Tiémoué Bakayoko in the box, with Moss again waving away the penalty appeals.

Schelotto’s exasperat ion rather summed up Brighton’s mood, with their industry unrewarded throughout, even after Andreas Christensen had retired with “a contusion” according to Antonio Conte, after a clash of heads. Chelsea were quick to insist the Dane had shown no signs of concussion.

They would rouse themselves again courtesy of Hazard’s second before, minutes from time, the substitute Charly Musonda produced a fine pass from deep that Moses collected and converted after easing away from Markus Suttner.

After weeks of frustration which masked the reality they are unbeaten in 12 matches in all competitions, Chelsea could bask in the infliction of a thrashing