Southampton versus Chelsea may have been one of the lower-scoring games of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, but fans were more interested about the rising form of Eden Hazard than the scoreline.
Chelsea went into the game kicking at the heels of Tottenham and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, whose 4-2 thriller over Crystal Palace drew plaudits as the match of the season so far.
It took the Blues just over five minutes to secure the lead with a lovely left-footed strike from the Belgian Hazard, following a Victor Moses assist.
With the Twittersphere in full flow, it didn’t take long to point out that Hazard has now scored more goals this season than throughout the entirety of last year. Put another way, that’s five goals in 10 games this year versus four in 31 last season.
Hazard is so bloody good it's hard to fathom what happened last season. Just shows though how massively important confidence is.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 30, 2016
Southampton 0-1 Chelsea: Hazard to Moses to Hazard. The Belgian turns Davis like a spinning top, before firing low from close. Lovely.
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) October 30, 2016
Hazard is back baby😭
— G. (@glenn18x) October 30, 2016
If you don't think Hazard is the best player in the Premier league, your opinion instantly becomes irrelevant.
— TheJoseEra (@TheJoseEra) October 30, 2016
Chelsea’s domineering performance kept the pressure on Saints into the second half, and if Chelsea’s away fans wanted to see a more conclusive result, they weren’t to be disappointed.
Despite some early missed opportunities, Diego Costa pulled off an absolute screamer of a curled right-foot strike from a Hazard assist to take the west London side to their fourth clean sheet in a row.
Costa goal for 2-0! What a goal! / Southampton v Chelsea #CFC #SOUCHE pic.twitter.com/wylFYFHHQp
— Chelsea Videos (@chelslatest) October 30, 2016
I think Conte was happy with that one... #SOUCHE #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/2PM3APROTs
— Chris Buck (@ChrisBuckGuitar) October 30, 2016
This was a controlled and calculated performance, and Chelsea now rise up the table to fourth, with just two points between them and current front-runners, Man City.
The result was never in doubt with Chelsea in control from the first to the last minute. Complete performance. Conte's magic. #CFC #SOUCHE
— Piotr Podraza (@ppodraza) October 30, 2016
We can’t help but wonder how Mourinho must be feeling right now…
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