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Tag: Eden Hazard

  • Hazard shines as Chelsea defeat Brighton to remain in top-four

    Hazard shines as Chelsea defeat Brighton to remain in top-four

    Eden Hazard scored one and assisted another as Chelsea held on to beat Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Sunday to remain in Premier League top-four.

    The Belgium forward set up the Blues’ opener with a wonderful pass across the face of goal for the arriving Pedro to tap in on 17 minutes.

    Willian then pounced on a loose pass from Leon Balogun and played in Hazard, who ran from just over the halfway line, outpacing the Brighton defence, before slotting past Mat Ryan just after the half hour mark.

    Brighton, who welcomed back Glenn Murray to the starting XI after a shoulder injury, barely threatened in the first hour.

    But they improved following Murray’s substitution for Romanian striker Florin Andone and pulled a goal back in the 66th minute.

    Bernardo headed a cross back across goal and Solly March was unopposed as he hooked his shot past Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga

    Seagulls fans felt Marcos Alonso should have been sent off as last man after fouling March late on, but the Spaniard was shown a yellow card instead.

    Chelsea withstood the hosts’ late attacks to record their first away win in three games to stay in fourth in the Premier League, two points behind Tottenham.

  • I don’t want any regrets, says Hazard as he considers Chelsea future

    I don’t want any regrets, says Hazard as he considers Chelsea future

    Eden Hazard says he does not “want to have any regrets” as he considers whether to sign a new contract with Chelsea or leave Stamford Bridge.

    The Belgian forward has 18 months remaining on his Chelsea deal, and has openly questioned whether he is willing to extend his stay with the Blues.

    Hazard has also made no secret of his desire to play for Real Madrid, and when discussing his future with French-Monegasque radio station RMC, said: “The new (Chelsea) coach (Maurizio Sarri) thinks football like me, so we’ll see.

    “The family is in London, I’m also going to be 28. I do not want to have any regrets at the end of my career.

    “It’s a decision I’m going to make, I do not know when, but I’ll take it.

    “You know me, I’ve always loved Real, even before (Zinedine) Zidane. We’ll see what happens.

    “As I said, I’m already finishing this year with Chelsea, I still have a year of contract after this year.”

     

     

  • Hazard to return against Crystal Palace – Sarri

    Hazard to return against Crystal Palace – Sarri

    Chelsea forward Eden Hazard will return against Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Sunday but is unlikely to play the full match, manager Maurizio Sarri said on Friday.

    Hazard, the league’s joint-top goalscorer this season with seven goals, has missed the last three matches with a back injury.

    “Yesterday (Thursday), he had a large part of the training with the team,” Sarri told reporters at a news conference on Friday at Stamford Bridge.

    “But maybe he will not be ready to play for 90 minutes at the moment, because it was his first training for the two weeks.

    “Probably he will be able to play for 40 to 45 minutes. So, for us, it is important.”

    When pressed on whether Hazard will start the match, Sarri added: “I don’t know, I want to speak with him first.”

    Sarri is unbeaten in his first 10 league matches as Chelsea manager and can now match the record held by Frank Clark.

    He had taken charge of 11 without defeat with Nottingham Forest at the start of the 1994/1995 campaign.

    But the Italian is not getting carried away with the team’s positive run of results.

    “I think here I was lucky because my players were able to win without a high level of tactical level,” the Italian coach added.

    “I don’t want to think about the record, only to think about the match and to gain points.

    “The record is only a consequence of the match. I have to send the message to my players that the match is the only thing that is important.”

    Reuters/NAN

  • Chelsea star Hazard out of Europa League tie

    Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard will miss Thursday’s Europa League Group L home game with Belarusian champions BATE Borisov due to back injury.

    He is expected to return for Sunday’s Premier League game at Burnley.
    “Hazard is out for sure,” said manager Maurizio Sarri. “He has a back problem. We are trying to solve the problem for Sunday.”
    The Belgian is the club’s top scorer this season, with eight goals and three assists in 11 appearances.
    Hazard was not in the squad for Chelsea’s Europa League opener against Greek side PAOK Salonika on 20 September but came on as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 win over Hungarian champions MOL Vidi on 4 October.
    Chelsea are top of Group L with two wins, while BATE are third with one victory.
    Midfielder Jorginho – who has started all of Chelsea’s Premier League games this season – will be rested as Sarri is keen to rotate his squad before the match against Burnley.
    Defender Marcos Alonso, who signed a new contract this week, will be available and Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could be handed starts.
    “This match is not a big problem, because we have to play after five days from the last match,” said Sarri.
    “The problem will be on Sunday, because on Sunday we will play after 65 hours. So we need to change some of them.
    “For example, Jorginho we need to rest now, because he played 90 minutes the two matches with the international team [Italy], and then he played for 100 minutes in the last match [against Manchester United, which had 10 minutes of injury time]. It’s time to rest for him.”

  • Why I must leave Chelsea – Hazard

    Why I must leave Chelsea – Hazard

    Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard says he will not move to Real Madrid in January, but agrees he might need to leave Chelsea to win the Ballon d’Or.

    The 27-year-old attacker said earlier this month that joining Real had been his “dream since I was a kid”.
    Asked if he needed to play in Spain to win the game’s top individual awards, Hazard smilingly replied “that’s why I want to go, maybe”.
    The Belgian denied he would move in the January transfer window, however.
    Hazard’s contract at Stamford Bridge expires in June 2020 and reports in Spain claim Real Madrid are hopeful that Chelsea may sell at the end of this season for £70m rather than risk losing their star player a year later.
    Real signed Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea in August for a reported £35m as the goalkeeper’s contract entered its final year.
    Hazard is the Premier League’s top scorer with seven goals so far this season. That is as many goals as Real Madrid as a whole have scored in La Liga this term, with the European champions apparently struggling to adapt to life under new manager Julen Lopetegui and without forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to Juventus in July.
    Hazard, who was shortlisted for the men’s award at the recent Fifa Best awards but failed to make the top three, was asked if he was the best player in the world on form. “Yes,” he replied.
    The forward has been at Chelsea since signing from Lille in 2012, scoring 76 goals in 216 league appearances.

  • I want to improve Hazard, says new Chelsea coach Sarri

    I want to improve Hazard, says new Chelsea coach Sarri

    New Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri says he wants to keep Eden Hazard at the club and “improve” the Belgium forward.

    Hazard, who has been linked with Real Madrid, said last weekend “it might be time to discover something different” after six years at Stamford Bridge.

    Sarri, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, described Hazard as “one of the top two or three European players”.

    The former Napoli boss said: “Hazard is a very high-level player. I hope that I will manage to improve him.”

    Roberto Martinez, the Belgium manager, told Spanish radio recently that Hazard should consider leaving Chelsea to further his career.

    The forward, for his part, responded to the Real Madrid reports by telling journalists last Saturday: “You know my preferred destination.

    “I can decide if I want to stay or go but Chelsea will make the final decision – if they want to let me go.”

    Sarri said he wanted to meet Hazard, who is away on holiday after representing Belgium at the World Cup.

    “I would like to have fun during the week with him. This would mean very good results and mean we would have been very competitive during the season,” added the 59-year-old Italian.

    Asked if he planned to phone Hazard – or any other player linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge – Sarri added: “A telephone call without looking them in the eye would not give me any certainly.

    “I’d like to meet them face to face. I would also like a player to come on the [training] pitch four or five days to have a clear idea.”

  • Belgium coach Martinez says Hazard should consider leaving Chelsea

    Belgium coach Martinez says Hazard should consider leaving Chelsea

    Eden Hazard should consider leaving Chelsea in order to further his career, says Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez.

    Hazard scored three goals for his country at the World Cup in Russia – including the second in the 2-0 win over England in the third/fourth place play-off – and contributed two assists to help Belgium achieve their best ever finish at the tournament.

    Hazard hinted after the win over England in St Petersburg that he feels it might be time to move on and Martinez believes he has the quality to play for the very best teams in world football.

    “It could be the best time [for Hazard] to try something different,” Martinez told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

    “He is a player who has maturity and a lot of leadership. His play is based on talent.

    Hazard played a key role in helping Roberto Martinez’s Belgium finish third at the World Cup

    “Hazard could carry a new project anywhere in the world. He is at the best moment of his career. He could fit in any team in the world.

    “Players need new challenges and new projects. Perhaps it’s a good time for [Chelsea] and for Eden [to split].

    “I would be very surprised if Chelsea didn’t have big offers for him right now.”

     

  • Chelsea to keep Eden Hazard with £300,000-a-week contract

    Chelsea to keep Eden Hazard with £300,000-a-week contract

    London club Chelsea are set to offer star player Eden Hazard with a huge £300,000-a-week contract, and they are hoping he will commit to Stamford Bridge for the next few years.

    With the likelihood of no Champions League football next season, Chelsea are hoping they can secure Hazard to a new deal

    The Spanish publication Sport indicates Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich is so keen to hold onto Hazard that he will blow open the club’s wage structure to keep him.

    Despite Real apparently being ready to submit an £87million bid after the World Cup, Chelsea will pull out all the stops in order to hang on to their main man.

    Hazard, 27, is already the top earner in West London, pocketing £200,000-a-week and his contract runs until 2020.

    The Belgian would get a massive £100,000-a-week raise if he were to sign the reported contract offer.

    Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte is likely to leave the club at the end of the season after falling out with Chelsea’s hierarchy.

    Hazard could be stuck in no-man’s land as he once again waits to discover who his new manager will be and what role he’ll be taking up in the new system.

    Chelsea signed the forward in 2012, from French Ligue 1 side Lille for a reported fee of £32 million, going on to win two Premier Leagues, one League Cup and Europa League.

  • Chelsea: Hazard accept to play out of position under Conte

    Chelsea: Hazard accept to play out of position under Conte

    Chelsea play-maker, Eden Hazard admits he has no problem with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte playing him out of his favourite position.

    In recent big games, Conte has opted to use Hazard in a ‘false nine’ role rather than his preferred position on the left wing.

    However, ahead of Chelsea’s crucial Premier League fixture against Tottenham on Sunday, the Belgian insists he is willing to sacrifice his favoured role for the good of the team.

    “I just want to be on the pitch,” Hazard told Sky Sports News.

    “Number 9, 10, I can play left-back if the manager wants, no problem. I just want to be on the pitch and try to give everything like I do every time.

    “I’m happy with Chelsea,” he added. “I am just thinking about the end of the season and the World Cup. I have got two years left on my contract so I am just happy.”

    Hazard is currently on international duty with Belgium and is set to feature in Tuesday’s friendly against Saudi Arabia.

    Belgium have been drawn in Group G at the World Cup with England, Panama and Tunisia and Hazard believes they are equipped to go much further than they did in 2014 when they reached the quarter-finals.

    “Four years ago was the first World Cup for almost all of the players in the national team,” he said. “Now we have the experience four years later so we know what to do to be ready.

    “We have one target which is to go to the final and then we will see what happens.”

  • Conte praises fans as Hazard double sees off West Brom

    Chelsea manager Antonio Conte praised the club’s fans for sticking by him, after a comfortable win over West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge eased the pressure on the Italian.

    Conte’s Chelsea future had been placed under the harshest spotlight after successive heavy losses to Bournemouth and Watford – but a victory that took them back up to fourth in the Premier League will ease those concerns for now.

    Conte’s name was sung throughout by the home fans, in an obvious show of support.

    “I have to thank the fans because they showed me great support,” he said. “They are reading speculation and rumours on me and I’m grateful to the fans.

    “It means they understand my passion, my will to defend this colour, this shirt, this badge.

    “I have to live with this pressure until the end of the season. I don’t want this pressure to weigh on the shoulders of my players.”

    Conte needed the brilliance of Eden Hazard to settle early uncertainty on the pitch and in the stands.

    Hazard exchanged passes with Olivier Giroud before giving Chelsea a first-half lead and, after Victor Moses slid home a second after the break, sealed victory with a powerful drive in the 71st minute.

    The win took the Blues a point ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham.

    West Brom, meanwhile, are seven points from safety after one win in 25 league games.

    They were hampered by losing loan signing Daniel Sturridge to injury inside three minutes. Substitute Jay Rodriguez wasted an opportunity to put them ahead when clean through, and Salomon Rondon and Jonny Evans also missed chances with the game in the balance.

    “Losing Daniel Sturridge after three minutes was a blow in itself,” said Pardew. “That was probably a bigger blow than the result.

    “He felt his hamstring after a 60m sprint in the first moments of the game. We’ll have to nurse him.”

    For Conte, however, it was a satisfying night and the pressure – temporarily at least – is off.