Eden Hazard's Brace Carries Chelsea into Top 4 with Win vs. West Brom

Eden Hazard netted a brace as Chelsea dispatched West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Monday to ease the pressure on manager Antonio Conte.

Hazard opened the scoring after 25 minutes before Victor Moses doubled their lead shortly after the hour mark, and the Belgian netted again to wrap up three points.

The win takes the Blues back into the top four, while West Brom remain bottom of the Premier League table.

Despite an injury to Daniel Sturridge that forced him from the field after just three minutes, the visitors put Chelsea on the back foot from the start, and they should have had a penalty when Cesc Fabregas fouled Jay Rodriguez.

Rodriguez also should have done better when a poor Victor Moses clearance fell to him with time and space on his side 20 yards out, but he inexplicably shot first time and missed the target.

Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard was critical of Chelsea in the early stages:

Though West Brom were denied a spot-kick in the opening minutes, they enjoyed some good fortune as well, as Craig Dawson was lucky to stay on the pitch after his high challenge on Davide Zappacosta.

The Blues were eventually able to regain a foothold in the contest, and Olivier Giroud should have scored when he fired straight at Ben Foster from close range, shortly after the goalkeeper had done well to smother an effort from Zappacosta.

Chelsea struck first soon after, though, when Hazard played a neat one-two with Giroud before sweeping the ball into the bottom corner. Former footballer Gary Lineker enjoyed the move:

The Baggies came close to equalising after the break when Salomon Rondon out-muscled Andreas Christensen to reach a long ball, but Thibaut Courtois made a superb save to deny him.

Soon after, the hosts made it 2-0 after Moses surged into the penalty area and tucked home, his one-two with Cesc Fabregas fortunate to return to him after deflecting off Dawson. 

Hazard scored again in the 71st minute when he cut inside from the right and rifled home. Goal's Nizaar Kinsella shared the Belgian's numbers:

Though hardly a vintage performance from the Blues, it should restore some confidence after back-to-back defeats against Bournemouth and Watford in their previous two outings.

They'll need it—they face Manchester United and Manchester City in their next two Premier League outings, after playing Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.