Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff City
A superb hat-trick from Eden Hazard has sent Chelsea to the summit of the Premier League after coming from behind to thump Cardiff 4-1.
Sol Bamba gave the Bluebirds a surprise early lead, but a brilliant first-half double from Hazard put Chelsea in charge. He made it three from the penalty spot, and then Willian climbed off the bench to add a sublime fourth.
Maurizio Sarri’s team has made the perfect start with five wins from five, but it’s going to be a long, hard season for Cardiff.
Highlights of the game
Any Premier League 2018 betting odds sneaking through to the Chelsea players, as they prepared for battle, will have alerted them that Liverpool had already won at Spurs to make it five straight wins. That seemed to be playing on their minds as they began the game in a ponderous mood. And that gave Cardiff the encouragement to come out and play.
And after winning a couple of corners, the visitors amazingly went ahead on 16 minutes. The Bluebirds had some success last week with set pieces against Arsenal, but clearly, Chelsea hadn’t taken too much notice. Skipper Sean Morrison got on the end of a free-kick, and his centre-back partner Sol Bamba was there in the six-yard box to poke the ball past Kepa.
That was enough to get Chelsea going, and Cardiff keeper Neil Etheridge prepared himself for an onslaught. He kept out an effort from Pedro soon after the restart, and then made a brilliant save to deny Mateo Kovacic.
Pedro was the man to inspire the Blues to a win last time out, against Bournemouth, and he had another two good chances as Chelsea cranked up the pressure before the hosts drew level on 37 minutes. It was a fantastic move from Chelsea, started and finished by Hazard. After a series of quick passes, Olivier Giroud laid the ball off for the Belgian wizard. He fired low and hard into the corner from the edge of the box.
It was the same combination again, with more quick-footed play, which put Chelsea ahead before the break. Pedro crossed to Giroud, and the big Frenchman again teed up Hazard to score from close range.
That was a bad time for Cardiff to concede, on 44 minutes, but Coach Neil Warnock must have done a good job at halftime as his side came out fighting. Joe Ralls fizzed a shot wide and Bobby Reid came close, while at the other end Pedro missed again and was replaced by Willian to end his game.
The match seemed to be playing itself out, and it was well and truly over when Bamba floored Willian in the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Who else but Hazard stepped forward to send Etheridge the wrong way?
But it was a little hard on Cardiff when Willian added another on 83 minutes with a brilliant individual goal, curling the ball just inside the far post.
Key statistics
Our SBOBET Premier League players had this down as a home banker at odds of 1.20, and so it turned out to be.
And we suggested the Bluebirds needed a miracle to get anything from their trip to Stamford Bridge. They gave it a real go in the first half but were ultimately outclassed.
So it’s five wins from five. Of the eight teams who have previously won their first five league fixtures, only two have gone on to lift the title…both were Chelsea.
The Blues have now scored in the last ten minutes in every game so far, and how about this for a stat? That’s the third time in a row Chelsea have beaten Cardiff 4-1 at Stanford Bridge!
You could have gotten odds of 14.00 on that…
What’s next?
The Chelsea players set off to play their Europa League fixture away to PAOK Salonica on Thursday; that will serve as a timely reminder how vital it is that they finish this season in the top four!
Then they visit West Ham, the only side without a point so far, but the East–West London clash is always a cracker.
Premier League 2018 betting odds have had Cardiff to be relegated from the moment they were promoted last May, and that’s the harsh reality of the toughest league in the world.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Bluebirds next week when they travel to Manchester City, and then the following week they visit Turf Moor to play a Burnley side determined to get their own season moving.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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