London: A firm header from Marcos Alonso, a dazzling individual effort from Eden Hazard and a lob from Cesc Fabregas earned Premier League leaders Chelsea an emphatic 3-1 victory over Arsenal here at the Stamford Bridge, Saturday.
Chelsea moved 12 points clear of their London rivals and the chasing pack with a dominant performance that featured one of the solo goals of the season from Hazard.
After Alonso had outmuscled Hector Bellerin to head home in the 13th minute, the Belgian struck early in second half, picking up the ball just past the halfway line and shrugging off Francis Coquelin before rounding Laurent Koscielny and dodging Shkodran Mustafi to score.
Chelsea outplayed Arsenal, watched helplessly by their suspended manager Arsene Wenger from the stands, and goalkeeper Petr Cech gifted Fabregas the third when he failed to clear and the Spaniard lofted the ball into an empty net.
Arsenal substitute Olivier Giroud headed a consolation goal in stoppage time but his side were left a dozen points adrift in third place, their title challenge once again all but over with three months of the season left.
Arsene Wenger’s men were the only side that Chelsea had not scored against this season but it did not take the Blues long to consign that statistic to history.
There is, though, no stopping Chelsea as they won their 14th of 15 home matches in all competitions this season, including the last 11 in a row.
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