Two goals from Eden Hazard helped Chelsea cruise to a 4-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday for its first league win of 2018.
Chelsea’s midweek penalty shootout success over Norwich City in the FA Cup meant it had drawn its last five games in regulation time in all competitions but Hazard and Willian struck inside six minutes to set them on their way on Saturday.
Brighton tried to get back into the match but was denied by the bar, some fine saves by Willy Caballero — making his first league start for Chelsea in place of injured Thiabaut Courtois —while having two penalty appeals waved away by the referee.
With Brighton pushing forward, Hazard brilliantly netted a third 13 minutes from time before Victor Moses made it four late on. The win took Chelsea above Liverpool — which plays on Monday — into third.
The results: Premier League: Brighton 0 lost to Chelsea 4 (Hazard 3, 77, Willian 6, Moses 89); Arsenal 4 (Monreal 6, Iwobi 10, Koscielny 13, Lacazette 22) bt Crystal Palace 1 (Milivojevic 78); Burnley 0 lost to Manchester United 1 (Martial 54); Everton 1 (Niasse) drew with West Brom 1 (Rodriguez 7); Leicester 2 (Vardy 39-pen, Mahrez 90+1) bt Watford 0; Stoke 2 (Allen 53, Diouf 69) bt Huddersfield 0; West Ham 1 (Hernandez 73) drew with Bournemouth (Fraser 71).
La Liga: Espanyol 0 lost to Sevilla 3 (Vazquez 15, Sarabia 34, Muriel 90); Atletico Madrid 1 (Griezmann 34) drew with Girona 1 (Portu 73).
Bundesliga: Hoffenheim 1 (Szalai 86) lost to Bayer Leverkusen 4 (Bailey 43, Baumgartlinger 52, Alario 70, 90+3); Freiburg 2 (Haberer 72, Koch 76) bt RB Leipzig 1 (Werner 66); Borussia Monchengladbach 2 (Ginter 10, Hazard 90) bt Augsburg 0; Mainz 3 (Muto 45+2, 54, Holtmann 64) bt VfB Stuttgart 2 (Badstuber 19, Ginczek 90+1); Wolfsburg 1 (Arnold 66) lost to Eintracht Frankfurt 3 (Haller 18, Chandler 22, Jovic 85).
On Friday: La Liga: Getafe 2 (Molina 21-pen, Angel 74) drew with Athletic Bilbao 2 (Inaki Williams 13, García 48-pen)
Bundesliga: Hertha Berlin 1 (Selke 45+1) drew with Dortmund 1 (Kagawa 71).