HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1, CHELSEA 3
Willian scored one and made two other Chelsea goals as Huddersfield Town went 3-0 down within 50 minutes at a rainswept John Smith’s Stadium.
Town were unpicked by two first half goals by Tiemoue Bakayoko and Willian as Chelsea bounced back from weekend disappointment against West Ham with a richly deserved performance against a fatigued looking Huddersfield Town side who were down and out after just 50 minutes when Pedro blasted Willian’s layoff past Jonas Lossl.
Laurent Depoitre’s headed goal in injury time was a scant consolation for a Town side who had been throughly outclassed by Chelsea who were on cruise control by the end, going down to an eighth defeat in their last 11 games.
Collin Quaner was replaced by Danny Williams as the Terriers looked for more midfield solidity against Chelsea follow Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton with Rajiv van La Parra available but named on the bench after a three match ban following his red card against Manchester City. Kasey Palmer was ineligible to play against his parent club.
Anton Rudiger, Pedro, Willian, and Victor Moses came in for Chelsea while Gary Cahill, Davide Zappacosta, Cesc Fabregas, and the injured Alvaro Morata stepped down as Antonio Conte looked to bounce back from a damaging defeat which the Italian admitted had effectively ended the Blues’ title challenge.
The Blues had lacked penetration despite their superior possession and attempted cross field passes were finding forwards offside as Town lacked the pace to break free on counter attacks of their own.
Town held the Premier League champions at bay for over 20 minutes before a slip by Jonas Lossl while trying to clear the ball.
Chelsea won back possession and counter attacked quickly with Eden Hazard finding Willian with a back heel and the Brazilian supplied a threaded ball to under-fire midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko whose lifted cross/shot was bundled over the goal line by Town defender Chris Lowe as he tried to clear it after 23 minutes.
Willian was behind much of Chelsea’s best work from set pieces but the Terriers held firm for most of the rest of the first period as Chelsea passed the ball around in front of them, probing for defensive holes.
Crossfield passes eventually did for Town, though, as Cesar Azpilicueta found Marcos Alonso high on the left flank and the Chelsea wing-back’s lofted cross beat everyone to find Willian at the back post for a free header to hand the visitors a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minute.
Much like the first half Town couldn’t get out of their own half for much of opening stages of the second period and Pedro added Chelsea’s third in the 50th minute after Alonso’s cross was controlled by Willian and the loose ball was blasted home by the Spaniard past Lossl.
Game over, then for the unambitious Terriers who had not mustered a single shot on target until midway through the second half and only scored with their second effort when the result was beyond doubt in added time.
Before that, Chelsea were actively looking for a fourth, with Lossl saving with his legs from Hazard from close range on the hour.
Tom Ince tried to chip Thibaut Courtois shortly after with Town’s best chance of the game in normal time but Andreas Christensen headed the danger clear while Matthias Zanka struck a long distance shot well over the bar.
Ince’s wild shot in the 67th minute summed up Town’s limp attacking on a night when they faced a revitalised Chelsea while Pedro swept a Hazard back heel wide at the end of another superb Chelsea attack.
The visitors began to rest players for the weekend but the Blues were still able to snuff out most of Huddersfield’s attacks and even a little defiance from some Town fans towards the end was little comfort as Antonio Conte even chose to hand 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu his Premier League debut with the Terriers well beaten – there was time for a late consolation to cheer up the fans when substitutes combined to score – Florent Hadergjonaj crossing from the left for Laurent Depoitre to head home something for the fans to cheer in a wet night in West Yorkshire.
Huddersfield Town vs Chelsea Match Stats
Huddersfield Town: Lossl, Smith, Zanka, Schindler, Lowe (Hadergjonaj 67), Kachunga, Williams, Hogg (Whitehead 46), Mooy, Ince, Mounie (Depoitre 74)
Huddersfield Town Subs: Coleman, Whitehead, Cranie, van La Parra, Depoitre, Quaner, Hadergjonaj
Goal: Depoitre 90
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Christensen (Ampadu 79), Rudiger, Moses, Kante (Drinkwater 71), Bakayoko, Alonso, Willian, Pedro, Hazard (Batshuayi 68)
Chelsea Subs: Caballero, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Musonda, Batshuayi, Cahill, Ampadu
Goals: Bakayoko 23, Willian 43, Pedro 50