Hazard shows his magic once more as Blues thump Brighton
Eden Hazard was at the forefront of an overwhelming Chelsea display as the visitors were 4-0 winners away against Brighton at the Amex Stadium in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off.
The Belgian began the show with a strike after just three minutes, before Willian joined the scoresheet shortly afterwards. Ezequiel Schelotto was hauled down by second-choice goalkeeper Willy Caballero but the hosts were denied a spot-kick, before the Blues eventually put the game to bed late in the second-half.
Hazard applied the finishing touch to a well-worked goal, before wing-back Victor Moses put the icing on the cake with an excellent finish - securing Chelsea's first league win of the new year.
Eden excels amidst more transfer rumours
In a week where Chelsea have been reportedly so edgy in their attempts to acquire another attacking perspective - Andy Carroll and Peter Crouch have both been linked - Eden Hazard demonstrated that when at his peak, Antonio Conte can undoubtedly rely on the Belgian up front in a way that DIdier Drogba succeeded in previous seasons.
Superb on this occasion, he was solid but equally sensitive as he drifted in from the left, similar to a lion carefully inspecting which buffalo was weakest and best to pick off. Leaving the Brighton backline afraid as he made a multitude of attacking runs, he has a talent for making those around him look just as good too.
When he and Michy Batshuayi had the ball in tight areas, the two Belgians played passes to one another with impressive intention; when he had the ball in space, team-mates seemed compelled to make the correct runs, which he would then complete by making probing passes into their path.
His two goals were relatively straightforward yet splendid too. Able to influence his general surroundings for a moment of time, directing his finishes goalward, it's being increasingly obvious that the continuous clamour for him to sign a new deal at Stamford Bridge is justified.
He's still being coy on his future and understandably so with European giants monitoring his situation, but securing him in the long-term will strengthen Chelsea going forward.
Hughton's formation change fails to pay off
It's anything but difficult to perceive any reason why a manager should need to shuffle formation in order to battle Chelsea. Coordinating their 3-4-3 is constantly tempting, keeping in mind that Hazard should not be left alone to misuse the space left in a four-man defence. It is also easy to notice any reason why Chris Hughton rolled out big changes to his squad from a weekend ago's defeat at West Brom, when they were angular.
However, the intelligence of changing to a framework that Brighton haven't utilised from the beginning of this season and reasonably at all in Hughton's whole three-year tenure at the club for the defending champions' visit was challenged at best.
Attempting to battle Hazard when not at his apparent best is absolutely uncertain but rather to do as such in an unusual and awkward shape is considerably more troublesome. Shane Duff and Lewis Dunk have asserted a fine central defensive partnership in the course of the lats 18 months and it obliged an inquisitive time to bother their balance.
Throw in the fact this was Connor Goldson's second start of the campaign in the wake of missing the season's early months with a heart condition, playing this protective setup was even more of a bet. One which ultimately failed to pay off.
At last with Hazard in this space, it might not have made a difference exactly. He has demeaned much better sides than Brighton in the past with his ability - yet Hughton's plan was to unsettle the visitors and alas, he inadvertedly succeded in doing that to his own.