toptop
Chelsea
stretched their lead at the top of the table with a comfortable 2-0 win over
10-man West Brom at Stamford Bridge.
Diego Costa set Chelsea on their way with the opener and the impressive Eden
Hazard added a second to secure the win for Jose Mourinho's side as they set a
new club record of 12 matches unbeaten from the start of a top-flight season.
West Brom were forced to play for an hour with just 10 men after Claudio Yacob,
who was making his first Premier League start of the season, was sent off for a
reckless challenge on Costa.
Best of the game
Man of the match: Eden Hazard proved a constant threat to the
West Brom defence and got on the scoresheet.
Goal of the match: Diego Costa controlled Oscar's pass before
volleying past Ben Foster for his 11th Premier League goal of the season
Save of the match: Foster was overworked in the West Brom goal
and he produced a fine save to keep out Oscar's swerving shot and then Costa's
follow up effort
Moment of the match: Claudio Yacob's red card ended the match
as a contest as West Brom were forced to play for over an hour with 10 man
already two goals down
Talking point: Can Chelsea go the whole season unbeaten? Will
West Brom find themselves in a relegation battle?
Chelsea came flying out of the blocks and went close to opening the scoring
after just five minutes when West Brom were caught napping from a corner as Cesc
Fabregas found John Terry inside the six-yard box and his close-range shot was
brilliantly saved by the feet of Ben Foster.
The home side broke the deadlock on 11 minutes with top scorer Costa netting his
11th Premier League goal in just ten games.
Oscar picked out Costa inside the box and as the West Brom defenders appealed
for offside the striker chested the ball down before volleying it past Foster
from close range.
Foster came to West Brom's rescue on 15 minutes when he produced a fine
one-handed save to keep out Oscar's swerving shot from the edge of the box and
the keeper showed great reaction to prevent Costa scoring from the rebound.
Costa should have made it 2-0 on 19 minutes when he got in front of his marker
to get on the end of Branislav Ivanovic's cross from the right, but the normall
deadly striker slid his shot wide of the far post.
Chelsea did double their lead on 25 minutes as they again caught West Brom
sleeping from a quickly taken corner as Fabregas found Hazard unmarked inside
the box and the Belgian fired his deflected shot past Foster at his near post.
Things got worse for West Brom just before the half hour mark when Yacob was
shown a straight red card by referee Lee Mason for a reckless two-footed tackle
on Costa on the edge of the box.
It was all one-way traffic for the remainder of the first half with Foster
working overtime to stop Costa scoring from Hazard's pass and then getting back
to his feet quickly to stop Oscar latching onto the loose ball to score.
Chelsea picked up where they left off at the start of the second half and they
really should have made it 3-0 seconds after the restart when Nemanja Matic
ghosted into the box unmarked to get on the end of Hazard's pass, but with only
Foster to beat the Serbian volleyed his shot over the crossbar.
The home side were in total control in the second half and it was a case of
damage limitation for West Brom as they defended deep to frustrate Chelsea.
Foster denied Chelsea a third goal on 73 minutes when he rushed quickly off his
line to block Hazard's shot with his feet after Fabregas had picked out the
Belgian with a superb slide-rule pass.
Chelsea played out the closing stages with ease as they made it six straight
wins at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League to further strengthen their grip
at the top of the table.
Phil Thompson
"The run goes on. With the sending off after about half an hour of Yacob, it
became Chelsea controlling the ball. It was routine. Ben Foster has had a
magnificent game – but the two goals they conceded could have been prevented.
For the first one, Costa was offside, but he was on his own. And the second one
is similar, it is laid back to Hazard who is by the six-yard box who has time –
awful defending.
"Diego Costa did very well. He’s gone up in my estimation again. He went up for
the ball with Craig Dawson, who caught him with his arm. There’s blood on the
side of his shirt, but he comes back on, and acknowledged it as a fair
challenge. But the man of the match was Ben Foster. He was superb. He made so
many saves in this match. He was magnificent.
"There’s still a long way to go and bigger clubs will come to town. But this is
as near to perfect as I’ve seen this Chelsea team. They move the ball so
quickly."
Click Here For Official Team sheet
Teams
Chelsea Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahilla, Terry (c), Azpilicueta,
Matic, Fabregas, Willian (Ramires 86), Oscar (Remy 79), Hazard, Costa (Drogba
84)
Subs Not Used Cech, Zouma, Luis, Schurrle
Booked Willian
Goals Costa 11, Hazard 25
West Bromwich Albion Foster, Wisdom, Dawson, Lescott, Baird
(Gamboa 68), Dorrans (Morrison 84), Yacob, Gardner, Brunt (c), Sessegnon,
Berahino (Anichebe 78)
Subs Not Used Myhill, McAuley, Samaras
Booked
Sent Off Yacob 29
Goals
Attendance 41,600
Referee Lee Mason