Chelsea make it 12 wins in a row
Chelsea 3 Bournemouth 0
Pedro scored twice as leaders Chelsea made it 12 league wins in a row.
Eden Hazard also netted as Antonio Conte’s side produced another excellent display to cement their place at the top of the table.
Pedro opened the scoring on 24 minutes and Hazard netted from the penalty spot four minutes into the second half after being brought down by Simon Francis.
And after Jordan Ibe gave the ball away in injury time, Pedro’s shot was diverted into the net by a huge deflection off the unlucky Steve Cook.
Bournemouth kept the leaders at bay until Pedro – selected after boss Antonio Conte opted not to give Michy Batshuayi a first Premier League start despite Diego Costa being suspended – delightfully steered a shot into the corner of the net from the the edge of the penalty area.
The visitors threatened to equalise and keeper Thibaut Courtois was down quickly to deny Jack Wilshere, who also saw a goal-bound shot deflected wide by the alert Cesar Azpilicueta.
But Hazard’s ninth goal of the season gave Chelsea breathing space and the Belgian went close to scoring again when he fired wide after being set up by Willian, who shortly afterwards was denied by a smart save from keeper Artur Boruc.
Chelsea were resounding winners and were cruising long before the third goal.
They might have had to endure a less comfortable end to the match had Courtois not saved from Benik Afobe after the Cherries substitute had been put through by Wilshere.
Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses (Aina 89), Fabregas, Matic, Alonso; Willian (Chalobah 82), Hazard (Batshuayi 90), Pedro.
Subs not used: Begovic, Ivanovic, Zouma, Loftus-Cheek.
