EPL: Eden Hazard leads Chelsea to 3-0 win over West Brom

Chelseas Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge in London PicAFPBelgian playmaker Eden Hazard scored a brace here to take defending champions Chelsea to a 30 victory over West Bromwich Albion as the defending champions jumped to the fourth spot in the English Premier League Yet the contest at the Stamford Bridge on Monday was not as lopsided as the score would indicate with lastplaced West Brom playing like a team determined to avoid relegation reports EfeThe Antonio Contecoached Chelsea who began the match in fifthplace after two straight losses were not impressive during the opening minutes The visitors showed surprising ambition on offence even after losing striker Daniel Sturridge to injury in the fourth minute It was only after the Baggies twice threatened the Chelsea goal that the hosts seemed to become fully engaged allowing the vast difference in talent between the two sides to become evidentHazard led the way putting the Blues up 10 in the 25th minute with an assist from French striker Olivier Giroud making his first start since coming over from fellow London club Arsenal Though Chelsea were dominant for the rest of the first half West Brom showed no sign of throwing in the towel and their hopes were lifted in the 57th minute as Salomon Rondon let loose from close range but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made the stopEven so Jonny Evans nearly scored with a thunderous header on the ensuing corner and West Brom continued with the wind at their backs until the 63rd minute when right wingback Victor Moses made it 20 for Chelsea after a giveandgo with Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas The third goal came eight minutes later courtesy of Hazard with an assist from Spanish striker Alvaro Morata back on the pitch after missing almost a month with back problems We must be satisfied to win the game and get the three points Conte was quoted as saying to chelseafccomI think we can play better with more confidence and after two bad defeats our confidence went down We started the game with a bit of difficulty but after we scored we controlled the game and created many chances To get three points show the will to fight and keep another clean sheet was important and we must continue in this way The win lifts Chelsea to fourth place with 53 points one fewer than thirdplace Liverpool and one more than Tottenham Hotspur West Brom are seven points from safety with 11 matches leftCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go