Chelsea star Eden Hazard 'fresher and sharper' after long injury lay-off

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Simon Johnson20 November 2017

Eden Hazard believes he is reaping the benefits of being forced to take a summer break to recover from an ankle injury.

Hazard suffered a fractured ankle in June, which meant he missed Chelsea’s pre-season and did not start his first match for the club until September.

The Belgium international is beginning to return to his best level, with his brace in the 4-0 win over West Brom on Saturday taking his tally to five goals from his last six appearances for the Blues.

And Hazard said: “I am in good form. Since I came back from the injury I have been feeling good. When you miss football for two months, you just want to be back on the pitch, especially when you watch the players and your team is playing and doing well.

“It’s a bad thing to be injured, but I also think it was a good thing for my body to recover because I have played as a professional for 10 years now and I’d never had a big injury like this. It was the first time and it gave me two months’ recovery time. I’m feeling good now, the injury is in the past and I can concentrate on the future. The players help me a lot on the pitch and give me a lot of balls. I’m just happy with what I, and we, do.”

Chelsea’s victory at the Hawthorns was their fourth successive win in the league and lifted them above Tottenham into third place, albeit still nine points behind leaders Manchester City.

They leave for Azerbaijan on Monday ahead of their Champions League match against Qarabag in Baku on Wednesday night before taking on Liverpool away three days later. The squad are having to fly 5800 miles for the Qarabag game and will return in the early hours of Thursday morning, leaving little to prepare for the trip to Anfield.

Hazard says it is a tough schedule but one they can cope with if they maintain the standards set at West Brom. “When we are playing like that we can win every game, so we have to keep this kind of form. We can win at Qarabag and Anfield because when we play like this we can be very good. We have a long trip to Qarabag and want to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as soon as possible. We know it is always difficult to win at Anfield, but we are in good form.”

Simon Johnson on Hazard's performance at West Brom

At the double: Eden Hazard
Getty Images

Hazard didn't begin the game too badly, but he became a different proposition altogether after a heavy kick on him went unpunished.

His disgust was plain to see, especially toward referee Jonathan Moss as he hobbled around for 90 seconds.

After the attacking midfielder's complaints were given short shrift, he decided to take the supposed injustice out on West Brom.

Within a few minutes Hazard had set up Chelsea's first as his fierce shot was palmed straight to Alvaro Morata to score from the rebound.

Then Hazard doubled Chelsea's advantage, neatly rounding Ben Foster to put into an empty net. Noticeably he celebrated in front of the home fans that had been booing him.

West Brom couldn't contain him throughout and it was no surprise he added Chelsea's fourth after the break.

The 26-year-old continues to be a lucky omen for Conte. Chelsea have won all 16 League games under the Italian that Hazard has scored in.

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