- Eden Hazard was on form for Chelsea as they beat Newcastle in the Premier League
- The Belgian seemed to copy the finishing technique of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil on his first goal
- Hazard later added a second as Chelsea came from behind to seal a comfortable win
- WATCH: Cesc Fabregas fouled by referee Kevin Friend, Chelsea ace shoved to the ground
Chelsea survived an early scare to beat Newcastle 3-1 at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, with goals from Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata sealing the three points.
The Magpies took an early lead as Dwight Gayle pounced on a bit of a defensive mix-up to slot in from close range, but they were in front for just nine minutes.
Hazard scuffed in the equaliser, and twelve minutes later the turnaround was complete as Morata headed in from Victor Moses’ cross.
Hazard then chipped in a penalty to make it 3-1 to more or less end the game as a contest, and these are our highlights from the early Premier League kick-off:
Man of the match
Hazard was different class again, with his two goals superbly taken and ensuring a potential banana skin turned into a bit of a walk in the park.
The Belgian was at the heart of everything good Chelsea did, enjoying his new role up front alongside Morata in Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2 formation.
Remarkably, Hazard was so good he got a 9.9 rating on WhoScored.com before being taken off before the end of the game by Conte, preventing a possible perfect 10.
Flop of the match
Matt Ritchie had a particular nightmare for Newcastle throughout the game, and his error led to the rash challenge on Moses that forced the penalty for the third goal.
In fairness, Ritchie normally plays on the right-hand side of midfield for the Magpies, but had a go as a left wing-back today, and boy did it show…
Stat of the match
As well as being the leading scorer of headed goals in Europe’s top five leagues this season, Morata has already matched Diego Costa’s total tally of headers in his time at Chelsea.
Headed Premier League goals for #Chelsea…
– Alvaro Morata: 5 in 14 games
– Diego Costa: 5 in 89 games#CHENEW #CFC pic.twitter.com/DkrNMWEWXG— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) December 2, 2017
Not bad for a player people thought might not be strong enough to compete with the tougher Premier League defenders after arriving from Real Madrid.
The Spain international has shown he isn’t scared to lead the line by example and get stuck in and win those crucial aerial battles.
Player ratings
Chelsea: Courtois 6, Rudiger 7, Christensen 7, Azpilicueta 7, Moses 8, Alonso 6, Kante 8, Drinkwater 6, Fabregas 8, Hazard 9, Morata 8 / Subs: Bakayoko 6, Cahill 6, Willian 6
Newcastle: Darlow 6, Mbemba 6, Clark 6, Lejeune 6, Manquillo 6, Ritchie 5, Diame 5, Merino 7, Murphy 6, Perez 6, Gayle 7 / Subs: Hayden 6, Shelvey 6, Yedlin 6
Reaction
One of the most curious things doing the rounds on Twitter during today’s match was some Arsenal fans accusing Hazard of stealing Mesut Ozil’s finishing technique for that equaliser.
The Blues winger hit the ball into the ground as it found its way into the back of the net, in not dissimilar fashion to Ozil’s strike against Huddersfield Town in midweek.
Is there anything to it? Who knows, but these Gooners believe Hazard’s been studying the technique before trying it out against Newcastle…
Hazard scored a goal and he kicked it into the ground so it bounced up.. just like Ozil. Go figure it’s not that impressive.
— G. (@Griff_Bish) December 2, 2017
Hazard with another Ozil finish today?
— Shourjya (@shourjya19b) December 2, 2017
Hazard scored an Ozil
— Aroseed (@Aroseed) December 2, 2017
Hazard been watching clips of ozil with that goal.. kicking the ball into the ground
— Bobby Diamond (@BobbyDiamond92) December 2, 2017
Hazard with the Ozil-bounce ?
— Sunny (@Sunny1993s) December 2, 2017
Hazard just did Ozil’s finisher trademark
— J (@wanfaizin) December 2, 2017