Eden Hazard was only on the pitch for half an hour yesterday, but he made all the difference.
After a manic first half which saw the Blues go 2-0 up and then concede twice late on, the second half was a more considered affair.
Chelsea dominated the ball increasingly, but were very bogged down in the middle of the pitch. Arsenal gradually relinquished possession, but they were still very solid.
That all changed when the Belgian wizard arrived.
It’s not only that he can carry the ball forward himself with such speed and ease to get his team up the pitch, it’s the effect he had on the Arsenal team.
Once he’d ghosted past a couple of them they began to panic, dropping deeper and deeper into their own half. Before long the entire game was taking place in front of Petr Cech’s goal, it the pressure inevitably lead to Marcos Alonso’s winner – assisted by, who else? Eden Hazard.
