West Bromwich Albion fans call for Tony Pulis' head as Hazard-inspired Chelsea run riot at the Hawthorns
West Brom 0 Chelsea 4: The Hawthorns crowd wanted Pulis' head after an embarrassing first half where Chelsea scored three unanswered goals, adding another after the break
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Your support makes all the difference.Eden Hazard led the way as Chelsea cruised to victory at The Hawthorns to leave West Brom head coach Tony Pulis on the brink.
Hazard scored a goal in each half with his second on 62 minutes sending thousands of Albion fans streaming for the exits while those that remained called for Pulis’s head.
The Belgian also played a major hand in Alvaro Morata’s opener while Marcos Alonso also found the net as Antonio Conte’s men coasted to victory.
Their win left Pulis with just two wins from his last 21 Premier League games with angry fans amid a generally subdued Hawthorns atmosphere demanding his removal.
With owner Guochuan Lai travelling from China to watch the game and Baggies directors known to be concerned at the alarming slump in form, Pulis faces a fight to remain in charge for next weekend’s trip to Tottenham.
Yet it was the Baggies who made the brightest start with three early crosses from Matt Phillips, deployed as a right wing-back, causing problems for the champions.
The first two narrowly evaded waiting team-mates but the third was headed into the net by the towering Salomon Rondon with the aid of a fumble from Thibaut Courtois, only for an offside flag to put paid to any celebrations.
A spirited forward run by Jay Rodriguez brought more hope for the hosts with his through-ball directed towards Rondon, but the Venezuelan was dispossessed by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Chelsea had struggled to turn possession into chances but on 14 minutes they went close when Tiemoue Bakayoko turned Gareth McAuley on the edge of the box and saw a shot deflected wide.
Just three minutes later the visitors were ahead as Hazard, who had been down injured, got back to his feet and hit a shot that was parried by goalkeeper Ben Foster, only for Morata to turn in the rebound.
And once they were behind, Pulis’s side capitulated.
Marcos Alonso dragged a shot wide for the visitors, who then made it 2-0 on 23 minutes.
It was poor, static defending from the hosts but the flick from Morata to turn a Cesc Fabregas pass into the path of Hazard was sublime.
The Belgium did the rest, rounding Foster and finding the gaping net.
After appearing shellshocked in the immediate aftermath of the goals, West Brom applied a little pressure with Jake Livermore firing over the crossbar and Ahmed Hegazi heading just wide from a Gareth Barry corner.
The third goal arrived seven minutes before half-time when Hegazi wrestled Morata to the floor, Fabregas delivered a free-kick and Albion left Alonso unmarked to score at the far post.
Rondon made some headway early in the second half for Albion with Jay Rodriguez shooting narrowly wide before Gary Cahill made a vital challenge to snuff out another Rondon run.
But Chelsea were soon back on the front foot with Fabregas booked harshly by referee Jon Moss for diving when he appeared to collide with Gareth McAuley in the West Brom box.
There was little reaction to Pulis’s plight from his players in the second half despite a half-time change in system and personnel that saw the combative Claudio Yacob replacing the ineffective Grzegorz Krychowiak.
Hazard added to their pain with 28 minutes remaining as more statuesque home defending allowed him to collect a difficult high ball.
From there he sidestepped Hegazi and McAuley before bending a shot past a helpless Ben Foster.
That led to a mass exodus from home supporters but those who stayed mustered brief chants of ‘we want Pulis out’.
There were some louder chants of 'Pulis Out' as clock ticked over to 90 minutes and choruses of 'Tony Pulis, your football is s***'.
West Brom (3-5-2): Foster; McAuley, Evans, Hegazi; Phillips (McClean 84), Livermore, Krychowiak (Yacob HT), Barry, Gibbs; Rondon, Rodriguez (Burke 70). Subs not used: Myhill, Nyom, Robson-Kanu, Brunt. Booked: Rondon, Yacob.
Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Zappacosta, Kante (William 77), Bakayoko, Alonso; Hazard (Pedro 70), Fabregas (Drinkwater 67); Morata. Subs not used: Caballero, Rudiger, David Luiz, Ampadu. Booked: Hazard, Fabregas, Morata.
Referee: Jonathan Moss (West Yorkshire)
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