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Chelsea 5 Huddersfield Town 0 | Talking Points

Higuain and Hazard hammered Huddersfield 5-0 as the Blues bounced back after their defeat to Bournemouth.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri said that his side’s 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth last week was “difficult to understand” after they dropped out of the top four. However Chelsea have reacted and moved back into the top four with a dominant victory over Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge.

Higuain, who recently signed on loan from Juventus, scored the first goal of the game. N’Golo Kante,  playing in Sarri’s preferred position for the French midfielder, slipped the Argentine a delightful reverse pass and the new striker netted his first goal at the bridge.

Minutes before the end of the half, Elias Kachunga was judged to have nudged Cesar Azpilicueta over from behind and referee Paul Tierney awarded a penalty. Controversy followed as replays suggest that the foul may have occurred outside the penalty area – a tough call. Hazard of course converted, lashing it powerfully to the Lossl’s left, leaving him no chance.

The Belgium superstar later added his second of the game, making it 3-0. The Belgian latched onto a Barkley pass with a deft touch, then rounding the keeper and finishing from an obscure angle.

Three minutes later Higuain netted his second – with the help of a slight deflection, the Argentinian hit a wonderful curling effort from outside the box, which nestled into the top corner beyond the stretching Lossl.

In the closing minutes David Luiz added the fifth with a powerful header from a corner, it was deflected in by Kachunga which confused the already beaten Lossl.

A hopeless Huddersfield look destined for the Championship 

Another game, and another loss. Jan Siewert could not prevent his side from conceding to Chelsea’s overpowering attack as his side let in the most goals since the opening day of the season, when they were battered by City 6-1.

Despite Aaron Mooy’s early headed effort which so nearly gave them the lead, the Terriers were seriously restricted to any major chances. Not only was this an improvement for Sarri’s side, but it again reflected how weak the Town attack was; the Terriers have no goals in their last four games.

But even more worryingly, this is their 13th game without a win: they need one more point this season to move past Derby’s record lowest-ever haul. The Terriers are now 13 points away from Burnley who are in 17th – surely there is no way back for them?

Lethal link up: Higuain and Hazard 

Gonzalo Higuain made his first appearance at Stamford Bridge this afternoon with quite an impact. The 31-year-old has 291 goals in his time as a professional footballer, and made two brilliant additions against Huddersfield. His first goal epitomises what he is all about – finishing. The former Juventus man only needed one touch to score, after receiving a lovely ball from Kante he smashed it high and powerfully into the net above Lossl.

Later he added his second in fine style. Finding a pocket of space 25 yards out, his curling, dipping effort made it 4-0 to the hosts. His passionate celebration was met by a roaring crowd as he punched the air in his Bridge debut delight.

Hazard has been anonymous for the last five games, not contributing to any scoreline. But with the exciting addition of Higuain, he seemed to everywhere – constantly charging at defenders, sweeping up the loose balls and even helping defensively. A partnership which could begin to challenge the likes of Pogba and Rashford, Lacazette and Aubameyang and maybe even the likes of Firmino, Mane and Salah.

Sarri’s saga

Last week the Chelsea fans were calling for their newly singed manager to leave the club. After suffering two humiliating defeats to Arsenal and Bournemouth, fans had begun to call for his exit. The trouble lies in his persistence to play Ngolo Kante on the right side of midfield which, as a result, isolates the newly signed Jorginho, who isn’t best suited for the holding role.
In recent performances, opposition have found out Sarri’s new ideas and have resulted to just putting a man on Jorginho, restraining them from playing. Kante’s best attributes are therefore restricted and not being used as best as they could – it seems that there was a significant lack in motivation and confidence in their last two games.
However, this Saturday’s 5-0 win will only have helped Sarri’s men as he called it an ‘all positive’ victory. A bizarre rumour is circling if Sarri is to make way – his successor is being tipped to be Jose Mourinho. But, for the meantime, Chelsea fans can only be happy with the display from the Blues this afternoon.
Kante, back to his best?
Despite playing out of his preferred position, Kante was excellent today. His intelligence on the ball saw him add two assists to his season’s tally. His first was a wonderfully disguised ball to Higuain, which beat the Town offside trap and put it on a plate for Higuain. His second assist was similar – a deft touch from a Hazard pass placed the ball perfectly for Higuain.
Not only did he create two fantastic goals, but his individual flair and determination seemed to be back. Chelsea look to be back to their best, and also look to be the favourite to take the fourth spot from Manchester United and Arsenal. With Higuain, Hazard and Kante all returning to form, Chelsea are a real force to be reckoned with.

Three potential penalties

The first half was a surprisingly end-to-end game, and there were a fair few challenges in the boxes.

The first penalty decision was awarded to Chelsea after Azpilicueta went down. Interestingly it seemed as if it was just outside the box, a controversial call from the referee. Only minutes later, Hazard was on the counter-attack and was whipped out by Kongolo in the box, but it was waved away by Paul Tierney. This challenge in particular looked more of a penalty than the first.



The controversy continued into the second half as the visitors felt as if they should have been awarded a penalty. Christensen got himself into a mess at the back, losing the ball to Elias Kachunga. Kachunga went down as it appeared that Christensen trod on his ankle and caught him – another tough call, which could have gone either way.

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