The entire month of May 2012 was a chaotic month as a Chelsea fan. Aside from winning the Champions League, the dream of signing Eden Hazard finally became a reality.
good afternoon guys. i made up my mind. see you later. thanks
— Eden hazard (@hazardeden10) May 28, 2012
I’m signing for the champion’s league winner. — Eden hazard (@hazardeden10) May 28, 2012
Chelsea and Lille have agreed terms for the transfer of Eden Hazard, http://t.co/BTsOdR5t #CFC (SL)
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 4, 2012
Ever since joining the Blues, Hazard has run rampant on Premier League defenders. He has transformed into a player that is commonly in discussion with the likes of Neymar, Arjen Robben and Marco Reus – and some folks even put him in the same breath and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hazard has played in 107 Premier League matches, compiling 37 goals and 27 assists. In that time, he has 257 chances created – trailing only David Silva.
In his three years at Stamford Bridge, he has won three trophies – Europa League (2013), Capital One Cup (2015) and Premier League (2015).
His three years have been filled with tons of memorable moments. Here are my top ten (in no particular order) favorite and memorable moments of Hazard’s Chelsea career:
The ball boy incident
On 23rd January 2013, in a Capital One Cup second-leg semifinal against Swansea, Chelsea faced a 2-0 deficit. In the closing minutes of the game, and the ball out of play for a Swansea goal kick, Hazard was in a hurry to return the ball to Swansea goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel – something that is usually the ball boy’s job. The ball boy decided to be the hero – something he had planned – and laid on top of the ball. Hazard tried to poke the ball out of from under the ball boy, but clipped his ribs in the process. In the end, both Hazard and the ball boy apologised.
Drawing another foul – this time against an official
Hazard gets half the credit on this one. Following last week’s 1-0 win in a postseason friendly over the Thailand All-Stars, the official wanted to get a picture with the Belgian. What Azpi did next….
Goals like this
Early on during Liverpool’s run at the 2013/14 Premier League title, they met with the Blues at Stamford Bridge on 29 December 2013. Martin Skrtel opened the scoring just three minutes in. Hazard answered just 14 minutes later.
What a pass from Sakho. Chelsea went on to win the game 2-1 after a goal by Samuel Eto’o in the 34th minute.
And this
On 10 March 2013, Chelsea were faced with a 2-0 deficit just 11 minutes in against Manchester United in an FA Cup quarterfinal match. Hazard took matters in to his own hands in the 59th minute.
The Blues wound up coming completing the comeback after a Ramires goal in the 68th minute, a goal which Hazard picked up the assist on, and forced a replay at Stamford Bridge.
Oh, and this one too
On 12 January 2013, Hazard capped off a 4-0 rout of Stoke City with this banger.
Oh, yeah, and THAT goal
In Hazard’s first season with Chelsea, they were eliminated from the Champions League during the group stage, Roberto Di Matteo was swapped out for Rafa Benitez, and the Blues found themselves competing in the Europa League. After winning the away leg 1-0 in Prague, Sparta Praha got their away goal just 17 minutes in. With extra time looming, Hazard scored this left-footed rocket in stoppage time, sending the Blues through to the round of 16.
His trophy case, including winning practically every award in the 2014/15 season
This season was the sixth out of seven seasons where the Belgian won a major award. Dating back to the 2008/09 season, he has won either league (Ligue 1 or Premier League) Player of the Year or Young Player of the Year every year except the 2012/13 season – the year of Bale.
Strawberry, Shrewsberry…. it’s the same thing
This one speaks for itself.
The goal that sealed the Premier League title
Perhaps this is just recency bias, but this goal capped off an amazing three years for the Belgian at Chelsea.
In the end, I think it’s fair to say that we have to thank Didier Drogba and his header against Bayern Munich on 19 May 2012 for Hazard coming to Chelsea. The Drogba Era ended, or so we thought, on that night – and the Hazard Era was just getting started.
What has been your favorite Eden Hazard moment in a Chelsea jersey? Let Kyle know at @KBJelly on Twitter.
