Chelsea kept the pressure on their top-four rivals with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Chris Hughton’s nervy Brighton side, who are still not assured top-flight safety.
A bright and dominant first-half display produced little goalmouth action as Brighton set up to frustrate the Blues with a deep defensive line and tight marking, especially out wide.
Eden Hazard blazed over from inside the area midway through the first half, but it would be Olivier Giroud who broke the deadlock on his return to the side, as he nicked in to get on the end of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s low cross.
Maurizio Sarri’s tactical influence became evident as Chelsea benefited from a tiring Brighton side to rack up a comprehensive scoreline courtesy of goals from Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, each players’ finish virtually a carbon copy of the others and the combination play between the pair and Jorginho exemplified the sort of practised attacking routines that have been missing from Chelsea’s play.
Hazard was first to get his name on the scoresheet, faking to shot before curling the ball into the far corner before Loftus-Cheek found the top corner from the same area just minutes later.
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