Bad news for Morata, Chelsea's assist king is becoming the best false No.9 in the world

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Chelsea moved to within two points of Tottenham Hotspur in third with a 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Blues took the lead after 17 minutes as Pedro tapped in from close range following good work from Eden Hazard.

And Hazard doubled the advantage shortly after the half-hour mark as the Blues capitalised on a defensive mistake.

Brighton pulled a goal back after an hour with Solly March beating Kepa Arrizabalaga from close range but it would not be enough as Chelsea emerged victorious.

So, who were the winners and losers?

Winner: Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard may not enjoy playing as a false nine, but the Belgian has the potential to be one of the best in the world in that position.

Having been trialled by Antonio Conte as a defensive false nine it’s understandable why Hazard would want to avoid the role, but under Maurizio Sarri, the Belgian is devastating.

Starting for the second consecutive Premier League game as a false nine, Hazard actually started the game rather slowly, taking some time to link up with his team-mates. But when he did, Brighton were on the receiving end of a brilliant performance.

The Belgian first started with an assist for Pedro, breaking through the Brighton defence – with the benefit of a lucky bounce, before playing the ball towards the far post for his team-mate to tap in.

It was Hazard’s ninth Premier League assist of the season, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues, and also the fourth league game in which the Belgian had recorded an assist.

And he wasn’t done there, doubling Chelsea’s lead just after the half-hour mark, racing through on goal after Willian had intercepted a poor pass from Leon Balogun before coolly finishing past Mathew Ryan.

The goal was Hazard’s first in 12 games for club and country and also saw him already beat last season’s tally for Premier League goal involvements with 17 (eight goals, nine assists) to 16 (12 goals, four assists).

Loser: Alvaro Morata

Alvaro Morata may not have been in the Chelsea squad due to an injury picked up in the Europa League draw against MOL Vidi, but the Spaniard may just have been pushed a bit closer to the exit.

The Spaniard has not had the best start to life in London, really struggling to adapt to the physical nature of the English game. Last week against Manchester City, Morata was dropped from the matchday squad with Hazard the false nine and Olivier Giroud picked as the substitute option by Sarri.

With Hazard performing once again from the false nine role, it is likely Sarri will continue to use the formation when he can as Chelsea look to keep themselves in control of the top four destiny.

And if Giroud is Sarri’s preferred back up striker, as shown last week, Morata may be on his way out in the January transfer window with reports linking him with a sensational move to Barcelona.

Winner: Pedro

Another man to benefit from Sarri’s switch to a false nine is Pedro, and it showed once again on Sunday. The Spaniard is the perfect right winger for the Sarrismo system, but has seen less game time than Willian this season – Sarri’s favoured choice.

But with Hazard pushed into the middle and Willian switched over to the left, Pedro has come in for game time as the right winger and is proving why he is still valued at Chelsea.

The Spaniard’s footballing intelligence, and off-the-ball work, makes him perfect to link with Cesar Azpilicueta, waiting for the moment to hurt opposition defences.

Against Brighton, Pedro made the most of space opening in the box as Hazard drew players out wide, giving the Spaniard the easy opportunity to tap in from close range and give Chelsea the lead.

Loser: Callum Hudson-Odoi

When Sarri first took charge of Chelsea in the summer, some fans were excited at what a false nine system could mean for one of the club’s young stars Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The hope among the Blues faithful was that Hudson-Odoi could find himself on the bench regularly with Hazard, Willian and Pedro the starting forwards. But Chelsea’s game against Brighton showed this will certainly not be the case.

With Victor Moses injured, the Blues were without any substitute wingers leaving the gap open for Hudson-Odoi, but Sarri opted to place three central midfielders on the bench instead with Cesc Fabregas, Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek with the latter coming on for Pedro to play on the wing.

Despite Hudson-Odoi having done well with his game time in the Europa League, Sarri has still insisted the 18-year-old is not ready for the Premier League, and it appears the Italian is not willing to budge on this for the time being.

The win over Brighton would have also been a good chance for Hudson-Odoi to prove himself in the Premier League with the Seagulls open for attacking on both wings.

Winner: Anthony Knockaert

Anthony Knockaert may not have directly contributed to a goal against Chelsea, but for most of the match the Frenchman was Brighton’s best attacking outlet.

Up against Marcos Alonso on the right side of the pitch, Knockaert gave the Chelsea man a torrid match, exploiting weaknesses which have been exposed in the past few weeks.

It was a heated battle both in defence and attack, and Knockaert did get the better of his man in the build up to Brighton’s goal, able to get a cross in unopposed against Alonso with Bernardo heading across goal for the March finish.

Knockaert was replaced with less than 10 minutes to go as his race was run, with Chris Hughton looking for a different dynamic bringing on Jurgen Locadia.

The Frenchman also did his bit defensively, winning four tackles in the match, the joint-most of any player at the time of his departure.

Loser: Leon Balogun

Brighton had had a solid start to the game against Chelsea and were perhaps slight unfortunate to go behind to Pedro’s goal.

At that point, the Seagulls were still in the match and, with patience, could have broken down their opponents as other teams have shown is possible this season.

But the game was taken further away from Brighton after Chelsea capitalised on a poor mistake from centre-back Leon Balogun. The Nigerian international, who joined from Mainz in the summer, was only starting his third game for the Seagulls with Shane Duffy still out suspended.

On the ball in his own half, Balogun was under no pressure as he tried to build up play, but his pass was straight to Willian who played in Hazard giving the Belgian the chance to run at Ryan in the Brighton goal and putting Chelsea 2-0 up.

And, despite Brighton pulling a goal back in the second half, it would prove to be a costly error.

The post Brighton 1-2 Chelsea: The major winners and losers as Hazard stars in false No.9 role appeared first on Squawka News.



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