Chelsea took advantage of their Premier League pursuers' idle Saturday
to open an 11-point lead with a 3-1 defeat of Swansea at Stamford Bridge
Cesc Fabregas' strike on his 300th league appearance (19) set the
leaders on their way, although it took late goals from Pedro and Diego
Costa to get the job done after Fernando Llorente headed an equaliser in
first-half stoppage time.
Swansea may point - with some
justification - to an unpunished Cesar Azpilicueta handball in his own
penalty box with the score at 1-1, referee Neil Swarbrick apparently
ruling the close-quarters contact accidentalBut Chelsea were good value for a welcome win after twice dropping
points in their past three matches, and they might have won by more as
Fabregas alone came close to a hat-trick during a rare 90 minutes under
Antonio Conte.
A sixth start in this season's Premier League made him the first
Spanish member of the competition's 300 club, and he took his landmark
appearance as an opportunity to showcase his enduring class.
Fabregas
played the midfield metronome role to perfection - as much ticky-tocka
as tiki-taka - splintered his short passing with the odd well-aimed
slingshot into the runs of Costa and Eden Hazard, and caused Swansea
countless problems with his ambitious late arrivals in their box.
One such run brought the opener as a Pedro pass aimed at Costa was
quickly brought under control and prodded into the far corner with
Lukasz Fabianski still setting himself.
Fabianski denied his old
Arsenal team-mate a second shortly afterwards and later stood spectating
as Fabregas' firm side-footer rebounded off his crossbar.
By that stage the game was level. Somehow. Swansea manager Paul
Clement, returning to the club where he won the title as Carlo
Ancelotti's assistant, had called the trip a "shot to nothing" for
Swansea, but they registered naught in the shots column until the final
few seconds of the first half when Gylfi Sigurdsson's flat free-kick was
met by Llorente as Chelsea's defence dithered.
Had the game
finished even there might have been words about the legitimacy of the
free-kick - dubiously awarded against N'Golo Kante - but Swansea had a
complaint of their own when Azpilicueta's outstretched arm blocked
Sigurdsson's flick after the breakThe moment passed and Chelsea exacted full toll. Fabianski, who had
outdone his first-half stop from Fabregas with a better one to deny
Hazard, was at fault as he dived over a Pedro curler (72) which was
decent but no more.
And the game was up when Costa slammed in
Hazard's cut-back on the volley (84) for a 16th league goal, Swansea
slipping to a third league defeat of Clement's promising tenure that
leaves them three points above the relegation places with an overdue run
of four bottom-half opponents to come.
The moment passed and Chelsea exacted full toll. Fabianski, who had
outdone his first-half stop from Fabregas with a better one to deny
Hazard, was at fault as he dived over a Pedro curler (72) which was
decent but no more.
And the game was up when Costa slammed in
Hazard's cut-back on the volley (84) for a 16th league goal, Swansea
slipping to a third league defeat of Clement's promising tenure that
leaves them three points above the relegation places with an overdue run
of four bottom-half opponents to come.
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