Chelsea 3-0 Brighton: Blues hammer Seagulls at Stamford Bridge to keep top four hopes in tact

Chelsea 3-0 Brighton: Blues hammer Seagulls at Stamford Bridge to keep top four hopes in tact
Chelsea put in a five star performance to dispatch Brighton 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and keep their top four hopes alive.Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was making his first Premier League start, neatly crossed in for Olivier Giroud to finish shortly before the break, before Eden Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek dispatched eye-catching second-half strikes.3

Hazard scored and assisted in the match

Hazard’s 14th league goal of the campaign and Loftus-Cheek’s eighth in all competitions pushed Chelsea above Manchester United into fifth place, but one point off Tottenham in third.Chelsea’s hefty win might now convince boss Maurizio Sarri to let homegrown talents Hudson-Odoi and Loftus-Cheek loose in the bid for both a top-four league finish and Europa League glory.Sarri has defended Hudson-Odoi making his full England debut before his first Premier League start, with the forward impressing on international duty last month.But even the Italian knew that elusive league start had to come soon for a talent so highly-rated that the Chelsea hierarchy are itching to build their future around.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2...

• Southampton vs Liverpool (Friday, 8pm)  talkSPORT
• Norwich vs QPR (Saturday, 12:30pm)  talkSPORT 2
• Huddersfield vs Leicester (Saturday, 3pm)  talkSPORT 2
• Manchester City vs Brighton (Saturday, 5:30pm)  talkSPORT
• Coventry vs Bristol Rovers (Sunday, 3pm)  talkSPORT 2
• Watford vs Wolves (Sunday, 4pm)  talkSPORT

Hudson-Odoi wasted precious little time proving his class on the night in an industrious showing that yielded an assist and plenty of glimpses of his huge potential.While Chelsea were lucky to snatch that 2-1 win at Cardiff at the weekend, there was simply no fortune in this clinical victory.Chelsea needed time to break down Brighton’s double-banked defensive set-up and, while at times flailing at fluency, the Blues still bossed the first-half.Hudson-Odoi quickly set about justifying his start, not that he needed to.3

Hudson-Odoi enjoyed a solid first Premier League start

The teenager’s early strike would have definitely troubled Seagulls keeper Mat Ryan but for a deflection over the bar about which Shane Duffy knew precious little.N’Golo Kante saw a penalty shout rightly rejected after going to ground under little pressure from Gaetan Bong, but then Hudson-Odoi grabbed the game by the throat.Hazard’s cute backheel carved the space, and the England starlet whipped an inviting low cross, only for Giroud to see his effort rebuffed.Then the 18-year-old stood up another right-wing ball, this time with captain Cesar Azpilicueta unable to hit the target.Florin Andone fluffed Brighton’s sole chance of the half in a stark reminder to the hosts not to switch off, the Romania forward scuffing wide after Yves Bissouma had skinned Azpilicueta all ends up.3

Loftus-Cheek scored an absolute beauty in the second-half

Hazard blasted over after Giroud forced Duffy into a poor clearing header, in another big chance wasted.But then Hudson-Odoi surfaced again on the right, turning Anthony Knockaert inside out before drilling a low near-post cross that begged to be converted.Giroud duly bundled in, cementing the home side’s dominance.Hudson-Odoi might even have bagged a goal before the break too, only for his excitement to get the better of him. Hazard’s lofted ball into the box evaded Kante and dropped teasingly on the inside right, with Hudson-Odoi racing in at pace – only to end up crumpled in a heap after flashing a boot at fresh air.Chelsea only extended their control after the break, Hazard leaving Lewis Dunk sliding into the distance before whipping home from 18 yards.And then Loftus-Cheek chipped in from the same distance, steadying himself before delivering a sumptuous finish.

---

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Chelsea live on talkSPORT 2: Commentary, stream and line-ups for Europa League semi-final Chelsea will be looking to get one foot in the Europa League final when they take on Eintracht Frankfurt tonight. The Blues are in Germany for the first-leg of
Chelsea vs Arsenal: Build up and full coverage of Europa

---

Mateo Kovacic's permanent deal at Chelsea is reportedly hanging in the balance with manager Maurizio Sarri edging closer to joining Juventus. Chelsea are able to sign the Real Madrid loanee
[Pre-Match Thread] Chelsea vs Manchester United - FA Cup

---

Transfer news, rumours LIVE: Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham latest… today's football gossip 22/01/2019 Delph pledges to push Sterling on to greatness
Transfer news live: Arsenal keen on Atletico star, Willian

---

Jan 24, 2019 · Thierry Henry has been suspended by Monaco with the French club set to replace him as coach with the man he replaced: recruiting the likes of Cesc Fabregas during the January scupper Michy
Thierry Henry suspended as Monaco head coach after just three

---

Sunday's Copa Libertadores final second leg between Boca Juniors and River Plate, rescheduled after violence on Saturday, is postponed. Football final postponed after team bus attack.
Copa Libertadores Final second leg between Boca Juniors and

---

Yannick Bolasie has returned to Everton after the winger chose to cut short his loan at Aston Villa. The 29-year-old started only nine games for Villa after moving on loan from Goodison Park last
Everton winger Yannick Bolasie unlikely to regain squad place

---

Mesut Ozil: Arsenal midfielder may be in his 'comfort zone

---

For those who are new to soccer betting, odds for draws are usually higher than 3.00. This means that if you only bet on draws, you will be profitable in the long run if you are picking the correct games more than one-third of the time. Most causal bettors don't bet on draws because: They are casual bettors.

---

Centre-back Gareth McAuley has returned to training and could feature in Northern Ireland's Euro 2020 qualifier against Belarus on Sunday. A hamstring injury ruled the Rangers player out of
Gareth McAuley News, Stats, Photos - Northern Ireland

---

Aberdeen 2-4 Rangers: Alfredo Morelos scores twice and is sent off as Gers claim victory in six-goal thriller Written by: fpnews Posted on: February 7, 2019 Alfredo Morelos saw red against Aberdeen for the third time this season but not before firing the double which helped Rangers to a drama-filled 4-2 win at Pittodrie.
Alfredo Morelos scores twice and is sent off as Gers claim

---

Transfer news and rumours LIVE: Real Madrid to sign Hazard but Pogba move could be scrapped Chelsea have lowered the asking price on Eden Hazard in order to get ahead of the The likes of
Eden Hazard is Real Madrid fans' No 1 target this summer

---

Welcome to the Evening Standard's LIVE blog dedicated to the latest transfer news and rumours. Tottenham are willing to sell Vincent Janssen for a West Ham forward Andy Carroll is a
Transfer news, rumours LIVE: Chelsea, Liverpool FC, Arsenal

---