Chelsea restored their 10-point lead at the top the Premier League on Monday night with a 2-1 win over London rivals West Ham United. Goals from Eden Hazard in the first half and Diego Costa after the break were enough to see Chelsea ease past their local rivals, despite a late consolation from Manuel Lanzini.

The victory leaves Chelsea ten points ahead of their next closest title rivals, Tottenham, with just 11 games remaining in the Premier League.

On the break

The opening stages of the first half saw both sides enjoy plenty of the ball yet neither team had a real look at goal. West Ham started the better of the two and looked the more likely to open the scoring but it was Chelsea who would break the deadlock with a delightful counter attack.

N'Golo Kante's interception led to the counter attack with Hazard and Pedro exchanging passes before the former sped away, rounded Darren Randolph and slotted into an empty net. A trademark goal for Chelsea, who have been electric going forward all season.

West Ham almost leveled proceedings with five minutes to go in the first half but Manuel Lanzini's effort from outside the area flew well over the bar. Chelsea could've made it 2-0 before the break as Hazard yet again looked to cause problems, but his low-driven cross was scuffed by Costa before a pair of follow up shots were blocked.

Costa seals the points

Chelsea came out after half time with the 1-0 lead and quickly doubled their advantage through Diego Costa. The Spaniard's 17th goal in the league was arguably his easiest one yet after a mix up between two defenders allowed Costa to tap home from a few yards out.

The Blues continued to push for more and Marcos Alonso came close to adding to West Ham's misery after the wing-back's quick feet saw him burst into the box, but his chip rolled just wide of the post.

West Ham's best chance of the match came with half an hour to go. After the ball bounced around from a corner and it fell to Sofiane Feghouli, who saw his shot beat Thibaut Courtois but cleared off the line by Victor Moses. Chelsea came close yet again seven minutes later after an excellent flick by Hazard found Costa, who spun his man with ease but Randolph was on hand to expertly divert the shot past the post.

Andy Carroll, who struggled to get involved all evening, finally found himself with a chance to bring West Ham back into it with a few minutes remaining but his header flew wide of the mark. The hosts did find themselves back in it with a minute to play thanks to a Lanzini's low-driven effort that flew into the bottom corner but it was too little, too late.

A fairly dominant performance from Chelsea after West Ham seemed to control the early goings of the game. Lanzini's late goal was merely a consolation as Hazard and Costa did enough to seal all three points for the visitors.

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About the author
Harry  Harris
Covering the Premier League, Bundesliga and NFL. Writing for VAVEL since May 2014. Chelsea FC and Atlanta sports.