Eden Hazard strike sinks Swansea City

Eden Hazard scored in the first half to give Chelsea a 1-0 win over Swansea City on Boxing Day at Stamford Bridge.

The first good chance of the game fell to Oscar, who was played in by Eden Hazard, but Neil Taylor came across well to dispossess the Brazilian as he shaped to shoot.

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Five minutes later Hazard had a chance himself, as he was found by Samuel Eto'o but scuffed his effort wide when he should have tested Gerhard Tremmel.

Ashley Williams then needed all of his positioning skills as he hacked the ball off the line as Jon Obi Mikel was lurking to turn it in.

Chelsea got the goal they deserved just before the half-hour mark through Hazard, whose shot from outside the box somehow got past Tremmel.

Swansea responded well and could have been level through Alvaro Vazquez, but the striker's shot was well tipped over the bar by Petr Cech.

Chelsea could have doubled their lead almost instantly, but Tremmel reacted quickly to deny Eto'o from close range with a volley.

The striker then spurned another chance when, with time and space to run, he opted to shoot from outside the box and succeeded only in putting it wide.

Chelsea had another couple of chances before the end of the game but were unable to add to the goal and held on for a 1-0 win.