Chelsea 2-0 West Bromwich Albion
Diego Costa 11
Eden Hazard 25Matches like this show why fears are rising that the Premier League title race could become one long Chelsea lap of honour. The latest outing for José Mourinho’s team was never a contest, just a parade of awesome Chelsea power – and style – from start to finish. They have now won 10 and drawn two of their 12 Premier League matches so far this season, racking up points at a rate that means that by the time the other so-called title challengers find consistency, it may be too late.
West Bromwich Albion presented themselves for kick-off on time but that was pretty much all they got right, with the honourable exception of Ben Foster, whose saves stopped the scoreline from testifying to the true extent of the home team’s superiority. Chelsea corralled the visitors into their own end of the pitch from the opening seconds and did not relent until their opponents abandoned all hope of eking out a point. That was pretty early on, as it turned out.
It took Albion three minutes before one of their players even got a meaningful touch of the ball, although that was just to concede a throw-in.
Chelsea hogged possession with purpose, continually probing, spreading panic amid the visitors from the outset. Claudio Yacob managed to curtail one Chelsea attack in the fifth minute but was too flustered to do anything with the ball other than boot it behind for a corner. Chelsea took it short, Eden Hazard fizzed the ball across the face of goal and John Terry tried to poke it into the net, bringing the first of Foster’s many saves.
Foster was by far Albion’s busiest players, with many of the others acting like puzzled bystanders as Chelsea breezed between them. The goalkeeper was helpless in the 11th minute when Oscar clipped a dainty cross over to Diego Costa, who, as the defenders appealed for offside, killed the ball on his chest before finishing in typically deadly fashion from 12 yards.
Soon Foster had to excel again to prevent Chelsea from inflicting further damage, the goalkeeper pushing away an Oscar shot with one hand after the Brazilian had been left free on the edge of the area to receive a pull-back from Hazard. Foster had to scramble to his feet to prevent Costa from scoring on the rebound, no defender having anticipated the problem.
After Chelsea’s last Premier League home match, against Queens Park Rangers, Mourinho had complained that the subdued atmosphere made it seem like supporters were sleeping; here Albion manager Alan Irvine could have levelled similar complaints at his defenders. At least Chris Baird had an excuse for looking out of his depth. He was making his first Premier League start for 658 days following injury and loss of form. His rustiness was exposed by Branislav Ivanovic in the 19th minute when the Serb raced past him down the wing and crossed for Costa, who sent a sidefooted effort inches wide.
Albion were guilty of more doziness in the 25th minute when Hazard was allowed to receive a short corner from Cesc Fàbregas and then fire the ball into the net from close range, with Craig Gardner’s attempted block coming too late to be successful.
Albion had been pesky opponents for Chelsea in recent seasons, only losing one in six prior to this embarrassment, but the way things were unfolding here made a repeat of Chelsea’s 6-0 win in 2010 a strong possibility.
Especially when Yacob was sent off for what can only be described as a pogo-tackle – the midfielder jumped with two-feet into a challenge with Costa and although he landed on the ball, it was not hard to see why the referee, Lee Mason, deemed it dangerous.
Enjoying numerical superiority on top of a lead that was palpably insurmountable, Chelsea players began to showboat, Oscar drawing another save from Foster with a backheeled shot from seven yards. The home side should have been farther in front before the break as the West Brom defence dissolved every time the hosts turned up the heat. Fàbregas prodded a pass straight through the middle of them in the 40th minute, allowing Ivanovic to rush on to it and, as Foster advanced, knock the ball sideways to Azpilicueta. The pass was fractionally too long for the Spaniard but the fact that both of Chelsea’s full-backs had got behind West Brom’s defence in the box spoke volumes.
Nemanja Matic enjoyed similar freedom in the opening minutes of the second period but directed a volley over the bar from 10 yards after being fed by Fàbregas. With an important Champions League tie to play away to Schalke on Tuesday, Chelsea eased off slightly as the game progressed, though Foster had to maintain his vigilance to thwart Hazard and Costa again.
Chelsea supporters did their best to keep the atmosphere buzzing until full-time but Chelsea’s satisfaction with their lead and West Brom’s inability to do anything about meant the game had an almost non-event feel to it by the end.