Eden Hazard, Marcos Alonso have more goals for Chelsea in 2017 than Diego Costa
By George Perry
Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso are Chelsea’s leading scorers in 2017, ahead of one-time Golden Boot contender Diego Costa.
A large part of Didier Drogba’s stature as a Chelsea legend is due to his reliable big-game performances. From the FA Cup to the Champions League, if Chelsea were in a final, Drogba would get on the scoresheet. That ability to rise the occasion and thrive on the magnitude of the moment is one mark of an all-time great.
Eden Hazard has not yet had as many opportunities to shine under those lights. Even so, his ability to come through in the marquee games and to improve as the stakes get higher show that he can write a similar story as Drogba at Stamford Bridge.
As Chelsea take their Premier League title pursuit into the final stages, Hazard is delivering world-class performances with frightening regularity. He has scored three goals in Chelsea’s last two games, bringing him to 14 on the season. This ties his best output with the Blues, set in each of 2013/14 and 2014/15.
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Hazard has formed a strong partnership with left wing-back Marcos Alonso. The chemistry between these two has become noticeably stronger in recent weeks, with Hazard using Alonso as an outlet pass to bring Chelsea through the middle third.
More than just a supporting player in the Eden Hazard show, Marcos Alonso is having a career-best season, too. Alonso’s goal against Bournemouth was his fifth of the season – a career high.
Their goals against Bournemouth were Hazard’s fifth and Alonso’s fourth of 2017. Since the new year, Diego Costa – Chelsea’s putative striker who once sat just off the top of the Premier League’s goal scoring list – has only three Premier League goals. Costa’s possible replacement – Romelu Lukaku – has scored 11 goals for Everton in that time.
The timing of Costa’s drop in form and Hazard’s and Lukaku’s surge is telling. Eden Hazard is taking each game – and therefore the balance of the season – by the proverbial scruff of the neck. He is determined to exceed his personal bests, win trophies and aim for the Champions League next year. He is doing much the same as he did last season at this time, coming into top form down the stretch. This year, obviously, the stakes are much higher and that is making his performances that much more transcendent.
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Romelu Lukaku’s output is a remarkable contrast to Diego Costa’s. The two strikers are in very similar positions: neither will likely be with their club next season. If Lukaku can power Everton into the Europa League, he will not be there with them in Europe. He has already turned down their contract offers, yet is playing as though he made a lifetime commitment in Merseyside.
Costa, on the other hand, is on a team chasing a domestic double. But he can barely bother himself to take a decent shot. Once again, against Bournemouth, he was more interested in drawing (or committing) fouls than taking shots. He scuffed numerous shots, sending the ball wide, high or right back to the Cherries.
Eden Hazard is exceeding the high expectations he brings with him, as is his countryman and potential teammate Romelu Lukaku. These two show the defining characteristics of big stage players. Chelsea need that Antonio Conte aims to add more Premier League and Champions League trophies to the collection.
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What the Blues do not need are players who lose interest, motivation or ambition when the prize is at hand. Diego Costa should be embarrassed and fired up that a wing-back who was nearly anonymous eight months ago is having a better 2017 than him. The fact that he probably is not should underline why he has no place in a Chelsea or Conte squad.