EPL: Norwich 1-3 Chelsea: Blues win amid sanction crisis
Chelsea put their off-field problems behind them as goals from Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz gave them a 3-1 win at bottom side Norwich.
Only minutes after Thomas Tuchel had insisted he was still happy at the club despite owner Roman Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK Government on Thursday, Chalobah nodded them ahead at Carrow Road to cast aside any questions about his squad’s mindset.
It was two inside a quarter of an hour as Mount fired powerfully past Tim Krul after good work from Havertz, as a feeble Norwich struggled to deal with Chelsea’s intensity and were fortunate to go in at the break within two goals of their visitors.
A double change at the break provided just the tonic required, with Milot Rashica’s raw pace and direct running causing the Blues all sorts of issues after half-time, as well as a change in shape from manager Dean Smith.
Read: UK government sanctions Roman Abramovich
When Chalobah was penalised for handball by a VAR review, Teemu Pukki’s penalty provided a richly deserved route back into the game with 20 minutes to go, but despite plenty of bright build-up play, the Premier League’s basement side never had enough cutting edge to truly threaten an equaliser.
Instead, Chelsea put the game to bed through another increasingly common moment of Havertz magic, as the German’s postage-stamp finish found the top corner from N’Golo Kante’s square ball in the final minute of normal time.
The Blues’ third win in a row moves them eight points clear of Manchester United and seven behind second-placed Liverpool, who have played a game less. Norwich remain rooted to the bottom of the table, five points adrift of 17th-placed Everton, but with three more games already played.
Norwich travel to Leeds on Sunday for a crucial game in the battle for Premier League survival with Chelsea taking on in form Newcastle at the Stamford Bridge on the same day.
