Chelsea aren’t title contenders if you believe the man picking their team. Days like this might just give him second thoughts.
Granted, the defence is a little loose at times. Maurizio Sarri says that himself and Cardiff’s goal to take the lead in this game rather underlined the point.
But the sheer brutality of the retaliation made another, which is that they are quite capable of dishing out a kicking when the mood takes them. Of course, Cardiff are Cardiff, and impressive as they were at times in this match, you would expect them to swallow a few shoes away at Chelsea.
Eden Hazard (pictured) scored a sensational hat-trick as Chelsea came from behind to thrash Cardiff 4-1 at Stamford Bridge
Hazard, who struck twice in quick succession before half-time, slotted home a penalty to complete his hat-trick
The Belgian attacker was mobbed by his delighted team-mates after putting Chelsea 3-1 up at Stamford Bridge
Hazard (pictured) rolled a penalty past Neil Etheridge in the Cardiff goal after Sol Bamba had fouled Willian in the area
Hazard slides in celebration in front of the home fans following his equaliser against Cardiff on Saturday afternoon
The Belgium international took advantage of space between the lines to fire an effort into the far corner for the equaliser
Hazard then seized upon Olivier Giroud's pass to place a deflected effort past Etheridge and give Chelsea the lead
Hazard wheels away to a jubilant Pedro as Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge bemoans the visitors' defending
And yet September seems frightfully early to write off a team containing Eden Hazard, who scored a hat-trick here. A little premature to dismiss the title credentials, when Sarri made the perfectly sound decision to put Willian on the bench and then watched him win a penalty and slap a goal into the top corner in what was barely a 20-minute cameo.
That is a signifier of depth and five wins from five is a signifier of strength. The fixture have been kind, we all know that. Only Arsenal in those opening games serve as meaty opposition, and the truer gauge of where they stand will come from the league meeting with Liverpool at the end of this month.
But it is cynical in the extreme to argue with a perfect record, even if instinct tells you that Manchester City have the best squad and Liverpool stand as the biggest threat to their crown. Those instincts would not be misguided, particularly with Chelsea lacking a legitimately brilliant centre forward.
But if ever a team deserved the benefit of a doubt, it is one that wins its first five games. To that end, Sarri is just the fourth man ever to do so in his first five in the Premier League.
So far, so good, then. And this was another of those matches when he got his big calls right.
The two changes he made to his line-up here both paid off. Olivier Giroud came in for Alvaro Morata, a replica of the second-half substitution that turned the game against Bournemouth before the international break and a hint that quite possibly Sarri has a few of the same reservations about Morata as Antonio Contre.
Substitute Willian (pictured) won the penalty for the third and then completed the scoring with a sublime fourth goal
Olivier Giroud (front), who set up Hazard's second, joins the celebrations after Hazard's second for Chelsea against Cardiff
Sol Bamba volleyed home a free-kick in the 16th minute to give visitors Cardiff a surprise lead over unbeaten Chelsea
The other alteration saw Pedro given a start ahead of Willian and with three goals in four games before this one that was a reasonable reward for form. In each case, the switches were quickly and firmly vindicated.
In the instance of Giroud, the benefits were tactical as well as technical. Cardiff sat deep, understandably, and Morata just isn’t the back-to-goal kind of guy you need for that sort of scenario. Giroud wins his share of high balls, so he can do that shift and was an option on those occasions which called for aerial attacks. Inside seven minutes he put a header onto the roof of the net to illustrate the point.
But Hazard’s two first-half goals showed how much more Giroud can offer when his form is right. For the first, at 1-0 down, the Frenchman was the wall in a lovely one-two, playing the return pass that committed Joe Bennett and set Hazard on his way to goal.
Granted, it was the brilliance of Hazard that turned a chance into a goal, considering the Belgian first beat Bennett to the ball to clear and then rolled a delightful finish across Neil Etheridge to score. But the touch of Giroud showed once more the knack he has for linking play in this team.
His lay-off for Hazard’s second, on 44 minutes, was another example. The touch was again quite brilliant, taking a low ball from Pedro on the left and setting it perfectly for Hazard to crash through the crowd on the line.
For Pedro’s part, aside from his contribution to that second goal, there were two first-half strikes that almost made for lovely goals, and a third early in the second, only for one to go a shade high and the other two to go fractions wide. Fine margins, but another fine performance on the right. With him and Willian to choose from for one spot, Sarri is truly spoiled.
Defender Bamba beat a host of Chelsea defenders including Jorginho and Marcos Alonso to the ball for the opener
The goal was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable game for Bamba as he gave away the penalty for Hazard's third
His concerns, by his own admission in the past few days, come at the other end, with his defence. Previously the vulnerability has come from Sarri’s high back line and the space he gives up in behind his four, but here the issues came in facing high balls and set-pieces.
Even before Bamba put them in front, he had enjoyed the luxury of a free header in front of Kepa Arrizabalaga. He put that one wide. His goal offered no such escape and will give Sarri a bit to consider in the analysis.
Joe Ralls had floated a reasonably unthreatening free-kick to the edge of Chelsea’s area, but Marcos Alonso lost the aerial duel to Sean Morrison, whose header went back across goal. Jorginho had been tasked with following Bamba, but lost track of perhaps the biggest man on the field and a goal was the consequence.
So there is work for sarri to do. But that, really, was the limit of Cardiff’s threat. True, they played well, got a lead, punched above their financial weight, but almost immediately were faced with a bigger beast, as demonstrated by Etheridge making two very good saves to deny Mateo Kovacic in the two minutes following Bamba’s goal. Thereafter, Hazard had his two goals and Chelsea were where they needed to be.
There was a brief threat after the break when Bobby Reid pulled a chance wide, but Hazard’s hat-trick killed off the resistance, with his penalty converted after Willian was brought down by Bamba.
Willian wrapped it up with a superb curler into the top right corner from the edge of the area.
Olivier Giroud was a towering presence throughout for Chelsea, who have now won five in five in the Premier League
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock (pictured) watches on during his side's 4-1 thrashing against Chelsea on Saturday afternoon
PLAYER RATINGS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Rudiger, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Pedro, Giroud, Hazard.
Subs: Drinkwater, Barkley, Caballero, Zappacosta, Willian, Christensen, Morata.
Scorers: Hazard 37, 44, 80 (pen), Willian 82
Cardiff: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett, Victor Camarasa, Ralls, Arter, Hoilett, Reid, Ward.
Subs: Peltier, Richards, Zohore, Paterson, Cunningham, Madine, Brian Murphy.
Scorer: Bamba 16
Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham)
Olivier Giroud turned provider for Chelsea's second as Eden Hazard scooped in. CLICK HERE for more from Sportsmail's Match Zone.
Season at a glance
- Premier League
- Premier League
- Championship
- League One
- League Two
- Scottish Premiership
- Scottish Div 1
- Scottish Div 2
- Scottish Div 3
- Ligue 1
- Serie A
- La Liga
- Bundesliga
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News Pictures Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff: Hazard bags a hat-trick in fifth straight win for Sarri
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