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.[phone]
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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.
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