Chelsea beat Swansea, consolidate top spot

Three goals from Fabregas, Pedro and Diego Costa helped Conte's team win 3-1, thereby widening the gap with the group behind.

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Costa scored his 16th goal of the Premier League season this year. Photo: Reuters.

Goals: Fabregas 19', Llorente 45', Pedro 72', Costa 84'.

Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but Fernando Llorente equalised for the visitors in the final minute of the first half. The home side then struggled against a well-layered defence but Pedro made it 2-1. Six minutes from time, Diego Costa scored his 16th Premier League goal of the season to seal the win.

It was a memorable evening for the two former Barca players as Fabregas became the first Spaniard to reach 300 Premier League appearances and Pedro had his hand in nine goals in his last nine appearances for the Stamford Bridge outfit, including six goals and three assists. As well as scoring a goal, Fabregas' pass to Pedro's goal meant he equalled Frank Lampard's tally of 102 Premier League assists, second only to Ryan Giggs (162) in the history of the competition.

Chelsea completely dominated their opponents in this match. Swansea had just three shots in the whole match compared to Chelsea's 16, with two of them on target. One of those was Llorente's header in first-half stoppage time. It was a free-kick and the Spaniard punished the home team's defense for their lack of coordination when setting an offside trap. It was also Swansea's first shot of the match.

Fabregas marked his 300th Premier League appearance with a goal. Photo: Reuters.

After the equaliser and before conceding the second goal, Swansea were solid and their goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski, looked tough to beat again. During this period, Fabregas almost scored twice when his shot hit the crossbar.

Chelsea's second goal was a fine run and left-foot finish from outside the box by Pedro. However, the Spaniard's brilliance was only half the reason for the goal, the other half was down to Fabianski's error. The Swansea goalkeeper missed a ball he should have saved.

Chelsea continued to have more possession for the remainder of the match. As time ticked down and the game began to suffer from repeated fouls, Diego Costa scored. It was his 16th Premier League goal this season and his 42nd in 78 appearances in the competition.

This victory helped Chelsea widen the gap with the second-placed team, Man City, to 11 points. This weekend, Pep Guardiola's team will not play because their opponent, Man Utd, is busy playing in the League Cup final. Therefore, this gap in points will certainly remain the same./.

According to VNE