Chelsea see off Brighton with Eden Hazard the star
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea consolidated fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday that became harder work than had seemed likely in the first half.
Having won 4-0 at the Amex Stadium last season, they were on course for a repeat after taking a 2-0 lead at the interval.
Eden Hazard set up the first goal for Pedro after 17 minutes and scored the second himself before halftime following a defensive error.
Brighton came back into contention through Solly March's goal midway through the second half and Lewis Dunk went close to an equaliser.
The home side have not beaten Chelsea in any competition since 1933 but they stayed 13th in the table, nine points clear of the bottom three places.
Chelsea moved three points clear of London rivals Arsenal, who were beaten at Southampton. Reuters
PREVIEW
What time does it start?
Brighton vs Chelsea kicks off at 1:30pm (GMT) on Sunday 16th December.
Where can I watch it?
The match will not be shown live on TV or online in the UK.
Independent Sport will keep you up to date with all the goals as they fly in via our live blog.
Highlights will be shown at 10:15pm on BBC Two.
Player to watch…
David Luiz: After a torrid individual display at Tottenham three weeks ago, the Brazilian scored and played superbly in Chelsea’s win against Manchester City last week. As unpredictable as ever, the 31-year-old defender has solidified a partnership with German Antonio Rudiger at the back, and the Blues have only conceded 13 goals in the league this season.
Form guide…
Brighton: LLDWWL
Chelsea: LWWLWD
Odds…
Brighton to win: 15/2
Chelsea to win: 11/25
Draw: 17/5
(Odds provided by 888 Sport)
Southampton 0-0 Arsenal, 14 minutes
Nathan Redmond has started brightly and cuts inside on his right boot.
Deflected behind. Corner...
The cross is too deep, and Nacho Monreal and Bernd Leno combine to clear.
Brighton 0-0 Chelsea, 15 minutes
Chelsea don't look comfortable.
Marcos Alonso and Jorginho have both had somewhat shaky starts to the game.
Brighton really having a real go at their visitors.
Nathan Redmond has begun the game brightly for Southampton.
GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Chelsea (Pedro, 17 minutes)
Chelsea lead!
Eden Hazard is the architect, assisting in his fourth consecutive Premier League game, beating his man and whipping a cross to the far post for Pedro to tap in.
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Arsenal (Danny Ings, 20 minutes)
Southampton have been the better team and lead at St Mary's!
There is a suspicion of offside as the ball is played out to the left for Matt Targett, but the linesman does not raise his flag.
Targett has only one man to aim for in the Arsenal area, but he finds Danny Ings with a gorgeous whipped, arcing cross that just evades Laurent Koscielny's head, and Ings makes no mistake with a firm header past Bernd Leno.
A deserved opener for Ralph Hasenhuttl's side.
Southampton 1-0 Arsenal, 23 minutes
Southampton come again in the wake of that goal, with first Danny Ings and latterly Stuart Armstrong having shots on goal blocked by Bernd Leno and a pair of Arsenal defenders respectively.
Nathan Redmond and Ings are buzzing about and unsettling the Arsenal defence.
Pedro simply couldn't miss at the far post to give Chelsea an early lead against Brighton.
GOAL! Southampton 1-1 Arsenal (Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 28 minutes)
A well-worked leveller from Arsenal
Alex Iwobi plays a nice pass down the line to find the overlapping Nacho Monreal, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan shows good awareness to pull himself back into space by the penalty spot.
Monreal cuts back at head height and Mkhitaryan does superbly to direct the fast-moving cross perfectly into the bottom corner past Alex McCarthy's despairing dive.
Southampton 1-1 Arsenal, 30 minutes
Arsenal nearly score again!
Lucas Torreira breaks from midfield into the Southampton box (a profitable facet of Arsenal's play recently) and squares for the unmarked Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the far post.
It seems Aubameyang will simply slot home, and the Gabonese striker would have done were it not for a quite magnificent last-ditch challenge from Jan Bednarek, somehow toeing the ball away at full stretch and preventing Aubameyang from getting his effort away.
Outstanding challenge.
GOAL! Brighton 0-2 Chelsea (Eden Hazard, 33 minutes)
2-0 Chelsea, and Eden Hazard is taking to his new position rather well.
It is poor from Leon Balogun, giving the ball away in a perilous position. Willian frees Hazard who outpaces the recovering Brighton defence, and the Belgian ever-so-cooly waits for Mat Ryan to commit and finds the bottom corner.
17 goal involvements already this season for Hazard. Decent.
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