Eden Hazard was "scared" before Everton trip

Chelsea attacker Eden Hazard has admitted to having been "scared" before the Blues' trip to Goodison Park to take on Everton yesterday.

The Toffees went into the encounter on a run of eight straight home wins, but goals from Pedro, Gary Cahill and Willian ensured that Antonio Conte's side preserved their four-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

"It was a great game and a great achievement," Hazard told the Chelsea website. "It's always difficult to go to Everton and play a great game like we did. We controlled it from the start until the end which is good for us.

"It's this kind of game where beforehand you can be scared because when they play at home they are very strong and anything can happen, but we dealt with it and we played a fantastic game, we deserved to win.

"Sometimes it's difficult because the guy is everywhere with me, but when it's not me somebody else can make the difference, like Pedro did."

On paper, the game was Chelsea's hardest fixture of their run-in, with only games against Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Watford and West Bromwich Albion left to play.