Eden Hazard continued his masterful form at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, producing his first career hat trick to rocket Chelsea past Newcastle United. His three goals proved more than enough against the visiting side, who failed to capitalize on their few scoring chances as Petr Cech maintained yet another clean sheet.
The result further legitimized Chelsea’s resurgence under Jose Mourinho, consolidating their first-rate upset against Manchester City on Monday. Newcastle, meanwhile, has now suffered 3-0 defeats twice in a week.
Chelsea Newcastle Match Report: CHELSEA IN CONTROL THROUGHOUT
After trading chances for the opening twenty minutes, with Frank Lampard, Oscar and Hatem Ben Arfa closely missing opportunities, Hazard produced the match’s first goal on the 27-minute mark. The Belgian international found Branislav Ivanovic on the far right, who immediately crossed back to Hazard, allowing him to glide the ball past Tim Krul on first touch.
Newcastle had an opportunity to level the match just six minutes later when Moussa Sissoko beat Chelsea’s offside trap and found himself with a breakaway, but the midfielder’s fizzling effort ultimately left Petr Cech with an easy save.
The Newcastle side would never again threaten Chelsea’s lead. Hazard added his next goal mere seconds after Sissoko’s miss, allowing Chelsea to close out the match in relative comfort.
The second goal was Hazard’s finest effort of the night, though it would not have been possible without an absolutely brilliant assist from Samuel Eto’o. The attack started with the kind of counter-attack that Willian could soon trademark as the Brazilian hurried down the pitch with great speed and deft ability. Willian then found Hazard out wide. Hazard then started his run to the middle, feeding the ball to Eto’o, who with an expert back heel pass again found Hazard, allowing the Belgian to once again slot a shot past Krul.
Chelsea threw away a chance at a third goal early in the second half as Oscar failed to continue his run before an error from Krul allowed the ball to sail over his finger tips and land in front of an empty net. Oscar attempted to correct his momentum, but the ball dribbled harmlessly out of bounds for a goal kick.
Hazard’s third and final goal came on a penalty in the 63rd minute. After securing a corner chance, Chelsea delivered the ball into the near side of the box. Inexplicably, Mapou Yanga Mbiwa, stationed on the far side, wrestled Samuel Eto’o to the ground. Hazard coolly capped his hat trick with a penalty to the bottom right corner of the net. 3-0 Chelsea.
HELP FROM ARSENAL AND MANCHESTER CITY
Entering play on Saturday, Arsenal sat atop the Premier League with 55 points, while Chelsea and Manchester City were knotted two points back with 53 a piece. That dramatically changed by the end of the day, with everything going Chelsea’s way.
Chelsea easily downed Newcastle United 3-0, but just as importantly, witnessed favorable results against their chief rivals for the trophy. Arsenal instantly fell into a giant hole against Liverpool as the Anfield side jumped to 4-0 lead before the 30th minute. They would ultimately fall 5-1. Manchester City, meanwhile, failed to break a goalless draw at Carrow Road, securing only one point against Norwich City.
Chelsea now stand atop the league with 56 points, one above Arsenal and two above MCFC. While Mourinho has continually downplayed his side’s chances at the League Trophy this season, instead attempting to delay enthusiasm for next year’s squad, it is appearing more and more likely that he might outperform his first-year expectations. This looks to be a race that will draw out to the season’s wire, and Chelsea seem poised to keep their name in the mix.
OTHER NOTES
Petr Cech made six saves en route to finishing his record 210th clean sheet. The keeper has been in dominant form, but his job remains in jeopardy as the recall of the prodigious Thibaut Courtois looms.
Mohammed Salah made his Chelsea debut on Saturday. The 21-year-old Egyptian looked impressive at times and shaky at others, failing to convert a decent goal-scoring chance in the final minutes. Look for his form to improve as he settles in at the Bridge.
Mourinho preserved his astonishing Stamford Bridge unbeaten streak. The Special One improved his home record with Chelsea to 57 wins and 16 draws in 73 matches managed. No losses. #Streak.
It looks really good for us at the moment, we sit top of the PL table, we play West Brom next. meanwhile Arsenal will face Manchester United, let’s hope Arsenal gets punished like they did today
Yeah the key is to just keep winning our games!