HUDDERSFIELD, England (Reuters) – Third-placed Chelsea have put in a determined performance as they returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-1 win at Huddersfield Town in the Premier League.
Goals from Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willian and Pedro put Chelsea 3-0 ahead after 50 minutes before Huddersfield got a late consolation through substitute Laurent Depoitre.
The win put Chelsea level on 35 points with second-placed Manchester United and 11 points behind leaders Manchester City, with both Manchester clubs playing on Wednesday.
After losing to West Ham United on Saturday, Chelsea needed to quickly get back on track and David Wagner’s promoted Huddersfield side provided little resistance.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte left regular skipper Gary Cahill on the bench and in the absence of the injured Alvaro Morata played with Eden Hazard as the central striker with Willian and Pedro providing the attacking width.
Huddersfield had beaten Manchester United at the John Smith’s Stadium but Wagner’s gameplan, from the outset, was for his team to defend deep and try to frustrate the champions.
That gave Chelsea space and time on the ball in midfield which they accepted gleefully and took a firm grip on the game.