Wigan, Aug 20: Chelsea defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 at the Dave Whelan Stadium here yesterday thanks to goals from Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard but it was Eden Hazard who did the groundwork for both.

As early as the 2nd minute, the Belgium forward who was playing his first ever game for the Blues made an impact. Hazard was almost at the halfway line when he dodged his marker Ivan Ramis and passed the ball onto Ivanovic. The latter gave Ali Al Habsi no chance whatsoever with a low shot.

In the 6th minute, Hazard set up the second goal by forcing Ramis to trip him up inside the penalty area. Frank Lampard stepped up to the spot and slotted the ball in the middle of the goal even as Al Habsi dived sideways.

After this, Wigan tried to make a match of it and even dominated possession. However, most of the time their approach play did not result in good shots at goal.

Franco Di Santo had arguably the best chance at the fag end of the first half but Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech took the pace off his shot.

In the second half, a goal line save by Ramis meant that Fernando Torres could not score in the 63rd minute. Jordi Gomez missed a free header seven minutes later while Kone headed wide in the 85th minute.

After the match, Roberto Di Matteo praised Hazard's performance. "Eden Hazard showed all his qualities today and it was a pleasure to watch him. It was a great start to score two goals quickly and we controlled the game nicely," the Chelsea coach said.

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