Willian inspires Chelsea to victory
Huddersfield 1 Chelsea 3
Willian scored one goal and made two more on his return to the starting line-up as Chelsea cruised to victory.
The Blues were in total control at the break thanks to Tiemoue Bakayoko’s tidy finish and Willian’s header.
And any lingering fears that boss Antonio Conte would regret resting Alvaro Morata were allayed five minutes after the restart when Pedro’s stunning first-time strike as good as wrapped up victory.
Huddersfield, who slipped to just their third home defeat of the season, scored deep in injury-time through substitute Laurent Depoitre’s header.
But the win, orchestrated by a fine display by Eden Hazard playing up front with Willian and Pedro in support, never looked in doubt after Bakayoko’s opener.
French midfielder Bakayoko – much maligned for his performance in Saturday’s defeat against West Ham – opened the scoring with a neat shot across goal after some superb interplay between Hazard and Willian.
With Chelsea in control Willian headed in Marcos Alonso’s sumptuous cross at the far post to make it 2-0 just before the interval.
The Terriers went 3-0 behind five minutes after the restart when Willian managed to knock Alonso’s cross back to Pedro, who crashed it into the top corner.
Tom Ince had a goalbound effort half-blocked by Thibaut Courtois and then cleared by Andreas Christensen as the home side finally started to threaten.
But Chelsea, who go level on points with second-placed Manchester United, could have added to their lead, notably through Pedro and Eden Hazard, before Depoitre’s late consolation.
Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen [Ampadu 80], Rudiger; Moses, Kante [Drinkwater 71], Bakayoko, Alonso; Willian, Hazard [Batshuayi 69], Pedro.
Subs not used: Caballero, Cahill, Fabregas, Musonda.
