Eden Hazard proves why he is so important to Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea revival as hat-trick sees off Cardiff
Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff City: The Belgian was strongly linked with a summer move to Real Madrid but Sarri was desperate to keep him at Stamford Bridge - and you can see why
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Your support makes all the difference.Maurizio Sarri admitted he feared “for 20 days” he might lose Eden Hazard this summer and the Belgium forward once again demonstrated why the Chelsea head coach was so relieved the player decided his future lay at Stamford Bridge.
Hazard’s hat-trick, made up of two first half goals and a second-half penalty, together with Willian’s late fourth, ensured Chelsea overcame the shock of falling behind to Sol Bamba’s opening goal and matched Liverpool’s success earlier in the day by securing a fifth successive win that moved them to the head of the Premier League table
A perfect start to the Premier League campaign means Sarri joined Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Craig Shakespeare in becoming only the fourth manager to start his Premier League career with five successive wins. The scoreline may not reflect Cardiff’s commendable efforts but it confirmed Chelsea’s continuing progress during the early stages of the Italian’s reign at the club.
Initially it looked as though Chelsea might struggle to match the standards set by Jürgen Klopp’s side. An early header from Olivier Giroud, selected ahead of Alavaro Morata for his first start of the season, landed on the roof of the Cardiff net but it was the visitors who looked more threatening as they quickly exploited their strengths at set-pieces.
Bamba should have done much better than direct a miscued header wide when he was allowed to meet Joe Ralls’ corner on the edge of the six-yard box with 12 minutes gone. It was clear Cardiff believed they were capable of troubling Chelsea in the air and their efforts on the training pitch were rewarded when Bamba made more of a second opportunity six minutes later.
Ralls was again charged with the responsibility of delivering the ball into the Chelsea area, this time from a free-kick near the halfway line, and his cross was met by Sean Morrison who headed across the face of goal where Bamba got in ahead of Jorginho to volley home.
It was the start Cardiff wanted but the goal marked the end of a promising start as Chelsea flexed their muscles and began to assert themselves. Almost immediately Mateo Kovacic drew an excellent save from Neil Etheridge after breaking clear inside the visitors’ area before again testing the keeper with a low shot.
Pedro also threatened but it was Hazard who provided the cutting edge Chelsea required to break down Cardiff’s committed defence.
The home side’s growing pressure finally told in the 33rd minute following an incisive counter-attack that was started by Antonio Rudiger. The centre-back brought the ball out of defence before delivering a pass into the feet of Giroud who laid off first time towards Hazard. For a moment it looked as though Joe Bennett might snuff out the danger but a neat sidestep by Hazard wrong-footed the left-back and, with a clear sight of goal, the Belgian drilled a low shot across Etheridge and inside the far post.
The second came after a similarly slick move two minutes before the break, this time started by Marcos Alonso’s quickly taken free-kick after Hazard had been fouled. The Chelsea left-back found Pedro on the left of the Cardiff box where the Spaniard drilled in a low cross that Giroud did well to direct into the path of Hazard to finish from close range.
At the point it looked as though Chelsea might overwhelm the Welsh side but to their credit, Cardiff responded positively after the interval and would have levelled had Bobby Reid managed to direct a right-foot shot the other side of the post, which would have presented a very different challenge for Chelsea in the final 20 minutes.
As it was, Sarri’s side took full advantage as Cardiff tired with Willian, on for Pedro, drawing an 80th minute foul from Bamba that allowed Hazard to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot before the Brazilian completed the victory with an excellent dipping shot from 20 yards out.
Teams
Chelsea (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga 6; Azpilicueta 6, Luiz 6, Rudiger 6, Alonso 7; Kante 7, Jorginhio 6, Kovacic 6 (Barkley 50,6); Pedro 7 (Willian 67,8), Giroud 7, Hazard 9 (Zappacosta 84).
Subs not used: Caballero, Drinkwater, Christensen, Morata.
Cardiff (4-4-2): Etheridge 6; Manga 6, Morrison 7, Bamba 7, Bennett 6; Camarasa 6, Ralls 7, Arter 5 (Richards 46,6), Hoilett 6; Reid 6 (Paterson 70,6), Ward 6 (Madine 77,6).
Subs not used: Murphy, Peltier, Richards, Zohore, Cunningham, Madine.
Referee: J Moss
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