Chelsea cruised to their 4th consecutive league win in style on Sunday, as they downed Southampton right at the Saint Mary’s by a 2-nil scoreline, resulting in the host’s 1st home loss of the 2016-17 Premier League season.
Hazard grabbed the opener within 7 minutes of play, while Costa sealed the victory with the winning strike some 10 minutes after the restart to calm nerves as the home side anxiously pushed for an equalizer.
The goals were Hazard’s 5th and Costa’s 8th of the league season, as both forwards continued their brilliance in front of goal. Hazard has now scored more goals in 10 games this season than he scored in the entirety of last season.
Playing further forward than Diego Costa, the Belgian attacker has become Chelsea’s main striker in disguise, thanks to his free role and he has scored 3 successive league goals as a result. Against Southampton, it was he, and not his Spaniard counterpart that stole the headlines.
In a man-of-the-match performance, the 25-year-old frequently gave Fonte and Van Dijk an evening to forget as he ran circles around the Saints’ defence.
Everything about him on the evening reminded everyone of the 2014-15 Hazard, and the host’s coach Claude Puel, would have been least surprised having recognized the potentials of the Belgium international enough at 16 to hand him his professional debut in Lille during 2007-08.
Eden Hazard not only found the back of the net, he also assisted (1st of the season) Costa’s goal, created 4 other chances ( 4 key passes), and recorded 3 shots – which were all on target, hence a 100% shot accuracy all game. His pass accuracy for the game was 83%, while his passes averaged a length of 17metres.
.@hazardeden10: MotM vs Southampton, Rating 8.87, Goals 1, Assists 1, Shots(OT) 3(3), Key Passes 5, Dribbles 3, Touches 72 @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/fL3f4UVAE1
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 30, 2016
Gone was the Hazard who was limited in performances last season because he had to do some defending and regularly track back. He is enjoying himself having been handed a free role, and that has given him express permission to roam across the attacking third.
His seemingly long-lost creativity was highlighted once again against the Saints, as he completed 3 dribbles and had 72 total touches.
His all-round performance was unarguably a masterpiece, and if he continues with such level of consistency and unrivaled quality, the Blues can give the title a real shot this season despite not being considered worthy enough in some quarters.
Hazard was the driving force behind Chelsea’s last title triumph, and he is beginning to bring the qualities that saw him lead his side to victory this time around. Until Chelsea’s visit, Southampton had conceded just 8 goals, and Saint Mary’s was a fortress.
No team had left with 3 points this season, but all their defensive virtues were stripped off by the brilliance and wizardry of one man who could return the trophy back to the west London this season.
Conte is creating a better player out of Hazard, and maybe Mourinho wasn’t totally wrong when he compared him with Messi and Ronaldo 2 seasons ago.
His recent performances, including the one against the Saints are pointing towards greatness. If he keeps at it, how lethal Chelsea’s attack will become is anyone’s guess.