Chelsea 3 - 1 Swansea

Chelsea 3 - 1 Swansea

Fàbregas and Pedro see off stubborn Swansea as Chelsea stay way out in front

Home team scorers
Francesc Fabregas 19
Rodriguez Pedro 72
Diego Costa 84

Away team scorers
Fernando Llorente 45 +1:28

Antonio Conte had scoffed at the suggestion the Premier League title is all but Chelsea’s when asked prior to kick-off, but he will do well to maintain that facade of incredulity for much longer. His side’s lead gapes at a staggering 11 points in the wake of this latest victory, a win which had to be chiselled from a revived Swansea City. If they crane their necks, they might just make out the chasing pack massing on the horizon, but the bounty that awaits them is far closer.

The win was a club record equalling 12th consecutive at home, with Conte having triumphed in all but one of his matches in this arena to date. Admittedly there were times when they were properly tested and frustration mounted in the stands, not least after Swansea had plucked an unlikely equaliser on the stroke of half-time, but the win still ended up feeling comfortable.

The likes of N’Golo Kante and Cesc Fàbregas, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, were outstanding yet again. There appears to be no stopping this team at present. This had actually felt a potential test of the leaders’ resolve given the impressive impact Paul Clement has had to date at Swansea. His team began here four points clear of the bottom three having gleaned as many points – 12 – from his six matches in charge as they had from their previous 19 fixtures this term.

The former Chelsea No2 had cut a frustrated figure on the touchline for almost the entirety of the first half, tense from the moment Pedro Rodríguez side-footed over the bar just 57 seconds into the match. Yet, for all the hosts’ dominance and City’s apparent lack of punch, it would be Clement who would retire at the interval heartened.

His optimism stemmed from the free-kick shipped in the centre-circle deep into stoppage time at the end of the half. Gylfi Sigurdsson hardly had an appealing angle from which to tease a threatening delivery, but his pass arced gloriously into the home penalty area where Victor Moses had dawdled to permit Fernando Llorente space to attack. The Spain international had been pursued in January by Chelsea as a potential back up for Costa. Here was evidence why, with his header planted emphatically beyond the diving Thibaut Courtois to leave the majority in the arena stunned. It had been Swansea’s first real attempt of any note, one choked Federico Fernández header from a Sigurdsson corner aside, and was pilfered amid incessant Chelsea pressure. Yet the home side, for all their monopoly of the ball and Kanté’s irrepressible energy in central midfield, had only really eked out a handful of clear-cut opportunities, and only taken one.

Tom Carroll’s mistake had been key to that reward, Hazard eventually forcing the ball wide for Pedro who darted into the box and squared into the muddle of bodies loitering near the penalty spot. Fàbregas, on his 300th Premier League appearance, took one touch before calmly stabbing the ball across Lukasz Fabianski and in with his second.

The decision to include the Spaniard ahead of Nemanja Matic had presumably been in anticipation of dominating possession, and it took a fine save from Fabianski to deny him a second as he crunched down a volley from Moses’ centre. The Pole repeated that trick from the same player after the interval, but was by-passed when Fàbregas burst late from deep – as if impersonating Frank Lampard, who had been paraded on the pitch at the interval – to reach Eden Hazard’s cut-back, only to see the shot belted against the angle of post and bar.

That home pressure had been resumed by then, both managers agitating in their technical areas as the rain poured down, though this had become a lesson in patience with City, so porous up to the new year, now stubborn in defence. They might even have claimed a penalty when the excellent Sigurdsson flicked the ball up on to César Azpilicueta’s hand, Clement’s coaching staff incensed at Neil Swarbuck’s non-award. They were still chuntering their disapproval when Pedro cut in from the right and curled a shot which Fabianski should have blocked, only for the ball to slip through his dive as it skidded off the greasy surface.

Thereafter, Swansea were stretched as they sought to force parity and, eventually, undone decisively. Nemanja Matic’s leggy presence had added steel to Chelsea’s approach but it was the scuttling Hazard who teased space from Kyle Naughton. His clipped centre was volleyed in easily by an unmarked Costa and Chelsea could breathe again. It may only be late February, but their lead at the top is already starting to feel unassailable.

Guardian