EXPLOSIVE CHELSEA FLUSHES NEWCASTLE TO GO TOP OF EPL TABLE! HAS JUST BEEN PUBLISHED VIA UNPLUGGED SPORTS FANTASTIC HAZARD Jose Mourinhos men took advantage of Arsenals 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool and Manchester Citys goalless draw with Norwich City to leapfrog their title rivals. Hazard was the hero, the 23-year-old producing a virtuoso performance and taking his goal tally for the season to 14 with an impressive treble. The Belgian opened the scoring midway through the first half with an emphatic finish and his second quickly followed as he rounded off a superb Chelsea breakaway after 34 minutes. VIEW FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE By Liam Twomey Jose Mourinho insists that Chelsea are not title contenders but, after Eden Hazards superb hat-trick sent them top of the Premier League, that argument is looking harder and harder to sustain with any real sincerity. The Blues built on their excellent victory at the Etihad Stadium with a dominating display at Stamford Bridge against a lacklustre Newcastle side. Here, as then, the sublime Hazard was the outstanding player on the pitch but this time his classy technique was allied to a ruthless sense of purpose. Even his penalty was dispatched with style and, on this form, it is hard to disagree with Mourinhos description of the Belgian as the best young player in the world. Newcastle offered little resistance and their season is in danger of petering out following the sale of Yohan Cabaye but here they, as everyone else, could only sit and watch in awe of the magical Hazard. That ended the game as a contest but the former Lille man applied the gloss to a fine display with a penalty just after the hour mark. Captain John Terry was left out for the Blues, who had the better of an open start to the game, Hazards tame effort drawing a save from Tim Krul and Frank Lampard firing a free kick just wide. Chelsea quickly began to dominate proceedings and perhaps should have taken the lead after 25 minutes when Oscar lashed a shot narrowly off target but, just two minutes later, they did make the breakthrough as Hazard curled into the bottom corner,having collected a pass from Branislav Ivanovic. Newcastle wasted a glaring chance just after the half-hour mark, Moussa Sissoko - captain in the absence of the injured Cheikh Tiote - denied by Cech following a superb through-ball from Davide Santon. The visitors were punished almost immediately as Hazard finished off a marvellous counterattack by surging into the box before playing a one-two with Samuel Etoo and coolly slotting beyond Krul. Mourinhos men continued to look fallible in defence and were grateful to Cech once more when the Czech goalkeeper scrambled to prevent Luuk de Jong from scoring on his full Newcastle debut with a close-range header. But the visitors problems mounted further five minutes before the half-time interval when Mathieu Debuchy limped off to be replaced by Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. Chelsea almost extended their lead in bizarre fashion early in the second half as Krul lost his footing in an attempt to claim David Luizs long ball forward, which bounced over the Dutchmans head before eventually rolling wide of the goal despite Oscars determined chase to keep the ball in play. Mike Williamson prevented Etoo from scoring a third with a fine block before Krul kept out a stinging free kick from Lampard. However, the third goal finally arrived on 63 minutes, Hazard converting from the spot in confident fashion after Yanga-Mbiwa had hauled down Etoo in the area. The Belgian then came off to a rousing standing ovation prior to a flurry of late chances, Krul denying substiute Mohamed Salah a first goal for Chelsea before Sylvain Marveaux somehow shot wide following a Newcastle counter at the other end. ift.tt/1bddilI
Posted on: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 19:05:32 +0000
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