Hazard and Costa on target as Chelsea open up 10-point lead

Eden Hazard and Diego Costa struck in each half as Chelsea sank West Ham 2-1 to re-establish their 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Hazard rounded off a lightning counter-attack to tuck in the opener after 25 minutes, and Costa grabbed his 17th goal of the season from a corner five minutes into the second half.

Manuel Lanzini pulled one back in stoppage time but it was too late to slow down Chelsea’s charge towards the title.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte: “We controlled the game. We scored and we had chances to score other goals. It’s a pity for the goal we conceded at the end. We gave away another clean sheet at the end of the game, it’s not good. We must improve in this situation. It’s not easy to play after your opponent. And you know if you draw or lose you drop points (to them). To feel this type of pressure is good. We had a good answer. Now we must continue and prepare for the FA Cup against (Manchester) United.”

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic: “We started well in the first half, and then to make such a mistake that led to their goal when we had our centre backs in their box. And then their second goal, from our side was a cheap one. The story is very simple. If you want to beat Chelsea, they have to make the mistakes for you to score goals and not the other way round. (Otherwise) you have very little chance.”

Tweets of the Match

Chelsea’s Mr Perpetual Motion once again put in a commanding display. As usual he must have covered every blade of grass, which is no mean feat at the former Olympic Stadium. Played a pivotal role in the opening goal as well.

Moment of the match

Kante intercepted the ball after a West Ham free-kick, and 10 seconds later it was in the back of the net at the other end of the field. Kante found Hazard, who exchanged passes with Pedro before slotting past Darren Randolph.

Crowd watch

A fan is restrained by security (Paul Harding/Empics)

There was mercifully no repeat of the shameful scenes when these sides met in the EFL Cup in October, when rival fans hurled missiles at each other. But security was still breached when a West Ham supporter got over the advertising hoardings and close to the celebrating Chelsea players after their first goal. Thankfully he was quickly tackled by stewards and ushered away.

Player ratings

West Ham: Darren Randolph: 7, Cheikhou Kouyate: 5, Jose Fonte: 6, Winston Reid: 6, Aaron Cresswell: 6, Mark Noble: 6, Pedro Obiang: 5, Sofiane Feghouli: 5,Manuel Lanzini: 7, Robert Snodgrass: 6 Andy Carroll: 6. Substitutes: Andre Ayew (for Feghouli, 64): 6, Sam Byram (for Reid, 64): 5,Edimilson Fernandes (for Noble, 77): 5.
Chelsea: Thibaut Courtois: 6, Cesar Azpilicueta: 6, David Luiz: 7, Gary Cahill: 6, Victor Moses: 7, Cesc Fabregas: 6,N’Golo Kante: 8, Marcos Alonso: 7, Pedro: 7, Diego Costa: 7, Eden Hazard: 8. Substitutes: Nemanja Matic (for Pedro, 65): 6, Willian (for Hazard, 75): 6, Kurt Zouma (for Moses, 76): 6.
Who’s up next?

PA

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