Half-time: Chelsea 2 West Brom 0

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Diego Costa scored his 11th goal of the season and Eden Hazard was also on target as Chelsea cruised towards victory against 10-man West Brom.

Costa’s neatly taken volleyed opener rewarded early Blues dominance in front of a noisy home crowd and Hazard’s deflected strike made it 2-0 from a quickly taken short corner.

And the away side’s slim chances of a comeback looked to be over when Claudio Yacob was sent off for jumping into a challenge on Costa.

But by that stage, the unbeaten Premier League leaders were already in total control – they were 2-0 up and it could have been five.

John Terry almost opened the scoring from a well-worked short corner, but his close-range shot was turned just past the post by goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Costa soon set Chelsea on course for a sixth home league win from six, controlling Oscar’s left-wing cross and instantly firing in.

Oscar nearly made it 2-0 with a swerving effort after great work by the excellent Hazard and Costa missed a glorious chance, slicing wide from a Branislav Ivanovic cross.

Hazard did double the lead when quick thinking from Cesc Fabregas, who started despite hamstring concerns, teed up the Belgian from a short corner.

Hazard and Costa threatened a third home goal but the Baggies managed to hang on at 2-0 at the break.

Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Costa.
Subs: Cech, Zouma, Filipe Luis, Ramires, Schurrle, Drogba, Remy.

 

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