Chelsea won their 12th Premier League game in a row for the first time in their history as they downed Bournemouth 3-0 on Boxing Day to move nine points clear at the top of the table.
The Blues were without suspended star duo N'Golo Kante and Diego Costa but they still managed to secure a record-breaking victory at Stamford Bridge.
Pedro opened the scoring for Chelsea after 24 minutes, though he will miss his side's next clash against Stoke City after picking up a booking.
Eden Hazard converted his 50th Premier League goal for the club from the penalty spot after being fouled by Simon Francis in the second half, before Pedro added a third late on.
With Costa and Kante banned, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas filled in as Michy Batshuayi was again left on the bench.
It was a quick-thinking Fabregas who lofted a free-kick into the path of Pedro, forcing Francis to make a timely intervention inside the opening five minutes.
Hazard called Artur Boruc into action after quarter of an hour with a low drive that was always well within the goalkeeper's reach.
The hosts continued to look the more threatening and Pedro cut in from the left before firing wide with a swerving effort across the face of goal.
The breakthrough came at the end of a well-worked move, finished by Pedro when he curled a superb strike over Boruc from the edge of the box for his fourth goal in the last five matches at Stamford Bridge.
Bournemouth produced a spirited response and Thibaut Courtois had to make a smart near-post save to deny Jack Wilshere a prompt leveller.
The Arsenal loanee also saw a volley deflected wide on the half-hour mark, while Fabregas lifted a set-piece just over the crossbar at the other end.
Conte was afforded a more restful second half after Francis felled Hazard in the box and the Belgian put the spot-kick away for his 50th Premier League goal.
A Victor Moses half-volley flashed wide of Boruc's right-hand upright as Chelsea sought to put the game beyond Bournemouth's reach.
It was not all good news for the Blues, though, as Pedro's yellow card earned him a suspension for the New Year's Day visit of Stoke City.
Indeed, they could have been in for a nervy final 18 minutes had Courtois not made a fine stop from Benik Afobe after the substitute went through one-on-one.
But that was as close as Howe's charges came to setting up a grandstand finish, with Chelsea ending 2016 on a high as Pedro's deflected effort rounded off a swift counter-attack and made it 3-0.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for Reading This Post, I would love you to Drop Your Comment, Views, Recommendation, Rating and Reviews. Let's Make It Interactive