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REFRESH LIVE COMMENTARY
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CHELSEA FC 2 vs 1 SWANSEA CITY
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FULL-TIME: CHELSEA 3-1 SWANSEA CITY
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90’+4′The referee ends the contest.
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90’+3′CHANCE! Willian picks out Fabregas on the edge of the box with a neat flick, but the midfielder fails to add to his tally this afternoon as he blazes his shot over the bar.
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90′There will be four minutes of added time.
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88′CHANCE! Costa takes the ball in stride from Fabregas’ pass, but he just cannot sort out his feet in time before Mawson comes in with a closing challenge.
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84′Assist Eden Hazard
Assist Eden Hazard -
84′Goal Diego Da Silva Costa
Goal Diego Da Silva Costa
82′Chelsea are just trying to take the pace out of the game by retaining possession in the middle of the park. Swansea will have to come at the Blues now.81′SubstitutionWayne RoutledgeLuciano Narsingh
Substitution Wayne Routledge Luciano Narsingh -
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80′Yellow Card Leroy Fer
Fer brings down Hazard on a forward run and goes into the book. -
79′Chelsea will go back to their tactics of the first half and will desperately aim to contain Sigurdsson for the final throw of this contest.
77′CLOSE! Sigurdsson goes for goal with his strike and Courtois makes the decision to pat the ball down, but it takes a bad bounce for the keeper. He races off his line to gather and just gets there ahead of Llorente.76′SubstitutionPedro Eliezer Rodríguez LedesmaNemanja Matić
Substitution Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma Nemanja Matić -
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75′Yellow Card David Luiz Moreira Marinho
Yellow card David Luiz Moreira Marinho -
74′Luiz catches Llorente with a stray arm and the Spaniard hits the deck. There’s concern on the face of the Brazilian, but the referee appears not be taking drastic action.
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72′Goal >> Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez LedesmaGOALLLL!!! PEDRO FINDS THE NET! Chelsea regain the lead, but it’s a horrible moment for Fabianski as he allows Pedro’s low drive to creep through his hands in his dive towards the bottom corner. The Blues won’t care too much as their pressure has finally told on the visitors.
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72′
Assist Francesc Fàbregas i Soler
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71′The delivery from the wide areas has not been great from the Blues this afternoon and Moses continues that theme with a poor cutback for Hazard.
70′PENALTY SHOUT! Chelsea want a penalty at the other end of the pitch, but this decision is an easy one for Swarbrick as Costa was dispossessed by a fair challenge from Mawson.68′PENALTY SHOUT! Sigurdsson attempts to knock the ball around Azpilicueta and the ball appears to strike the Chelsea defender, but where? The Swansea fans behind the goal say the hand, but the referee dismisses the visitors’ claims for a penalty.-
67′Chelsea are not clicking in the final third as Alonso sends the ball behind Hazard’s run, allowing the visitors once again to clear.
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65′Moses feeds the ball into the feet of Pedro in the box, but his attempted backheel catches Hazard and Costa by surprise, allowing Fabianski to gather.
63′Naughton does extremely well for the visitors at the back post to head the ball clear of Alonso after Azpilicueta had whipped a dangerous cross into the area. -
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60′Costa has been thwarted twice in his last two attempts to offload the ball on the edge of the box. Chelsea are getting the ball to the striker, but the Swans are pressing him well in possession.
58′Chelsea’s early momentum in the half has been stymied by the Swans. They’re not letting the Blues have their own way in the final third, which will delight Clement. -
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56′Costa is furious with the referee as he lifts his leg high to knock the ball over his own head in the box, but Fernandez almost fell victim to his boot, leaving Swarbrick not choice but to award a free-kick to the visitors.
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54′Sigurdsson manages to raid past Azpilicueta and drives towards the edge of the box, but a solid tackle from Moses stops him in his tracks.
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52′The Blues ramp up the pressure as Hazard makes a weaving run before Fabregas takes over to feed Moses on the right flank. He sends a low cross into the box, but Olsson defends the near post well to clear behind.
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51′OFF THE BAR! Fabregas comes within inches of his second goal as he latches on to Hazard’s cutback inside the box, but his effort clatters off the bar and bounces over.
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50′Chelsea put the pressure on the visitors so much so that Llorente finds himself in his own box, playing the ball away from danger.
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49′Sigurdsson has another opportunity to send a threatening cross into the box, but on this occasion he gets his ball all wrong, sending it out for a goal-kick.
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47′SAVE! Fabregas and Hazard combine in the final third to release the Belgian inside the box. He fires the ball low towards the bottom corner, but Fabianski makes a fine save to keep the ball out.
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46′We’re back underway at Stamford Bridge.
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Conte will want to see more urgency from his side after half-time, while Clement will be hoping that his team can fend off the incoming storm that will no doubt come from the Blues in the second half.
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Antonio Conte will be furious with his team at the break as they were in complete command of the game following Cesc Fabregas’ opener, but a lapse in concentration before the interval has allowed Swansea to level as Fernando Llorente found the net.
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HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 1-1 SWANSEA
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45’+2′Assist Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson
Sigurdsson sends a delightful cross, which picks out Llorente and the Spaniard makes no mistake with his thumping header. -
45’+2′The referee ends the first half.
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45’+2′Goal Fernando Llorente Torres
GOALLLL!! LLORENTE EQUALISES! Swansea respond right on the stroke of half time as Chelsea fall asleep at the set-piece. Sigurdsson lifts the ball over the Chelsea line and Llorente powers his header past Courtois into the top corner. Game on! -
45’+1′Swansea are handed an opportunity to send a late cross into the box, which Sigurdsson will take.
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45′There will be one minute of added time.
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45′Costa attempts to lift the ball over Olsson at the back stick for Moses to chase, but the offside flag goes up against the Nigerian.
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43′BLOCK! Pedro weaves his way past Fernandez and Cork at pace and drives a low effort towards the bottom corner, but at the last moment Mawson steps in to divert the ball behind for a corner.
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41′Chelsea have not been at their fluent best in this match so far, but are still managing to control proceedings, especially in the middle of the park.
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39′Moses tries an ambitious pass from 30 yards, aiming to pick out Pedro on the edge of the box, but Mawson intercepts and clears.
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37′WIDE! Fabregas lifts the ball into the box and Cahill and Costa both go for the head, with the defender getting there first. However, he directs his effort wide of the target.
35′
Yellow Card Kyle NaughtonNaughton pulls back Hazard on the left flank and he becomes the first man to enter the book today.
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32′Sigurdsson does get room this time on the left flank and he swings a cross into the box. Unfortunately for the Swans the ball goes straight down the throat of Courtois, who gathers with ease.
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30′Sigurdsson has space to roam in the final third, but he can’t beat the challenge of Azpilicueta who wins the ball. The Spaniard had to make that tackle otherwise the Swansea midfielder would have had an abundance of room.
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27′SAVE! Moses collects Costa’s scuffed shot on the right flank and crosses back into the middle. Fabregas latches on to the ball and volleys an effort into the ground, but he is denied his second goal of the game by a brilliant save from Fabianski.
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26′CHANCE! Costa bursts past Fernandez on the edge of the box and goes for goal, but he can only scuff his effort wide of the target.
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24′Luiz takes a poor touch in his own half and Llorente pounces to collect and raid to the edge of the box. However, before he can threaten Kante comes in with a challenge to win back possession. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before.
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23′Chelsea are in complete command of the game now as they are encamped in the Swansea half. The visitors are struggling to break out, with Llorente cutting an isolated figure.
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22′CLOSE! Naughton plays a blind backpass towards Fabianski, but the keeper is not where the full-back thinks he is. The ball trickles towards the net, but the Pole scampers back just in time to control and bring it away. That would have been a horrible few seconds for Naughton.
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19′
Goal Francesc Fàbregas i Soler
GOALLLL!!!!! Chelsea take the lead as Fabregas pounces in the box following a good forward run. He takes a pass from Pedro in stride before poking the ball past Fabianski into the bottom corner.
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19′
Assist Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma
18′Fabregas’ delivery is cleared, but Chelsea keep the pressure on as Moses wins a corner on the right flank.16′Hazard makes a dart 30 yards from goal, but gets caught as he attempts to burst past Fer. Fabregas will have a chance to swing the ball into the box from the left.15′Hazard flicks the ball around the corner to Costa, but the striker tries to manoeuvre his way through three defenders inside the box and the visitors are able to regain possession.-
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14′BLOCK! Chelsea open up Swansea for the first time in the match as Costa takes a brilliant touch on the edge to feed Hazard. The Belgian cuts back before teeing up Fabregas 20 yards from goal, but a wall of white shirts make the block to divert the ball out for a corner.
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12′Alonso has a raid down the left flankl, but Naughton sticks to his task to stop the cross and the Swans defend the resulting throw-in well to clear their lines. A good start to the contest from the visitors.
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10′Chelsea are not in their rhythm as of yet, although that will not concern Conte at the moment. It took them a while to find their feet at Wolves last week as well.
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8′The Blues break with Hazard through the middle and he plays the ball to Costa in the right inside channel. The striker attempts to battle through two challenges, but loses possession by knocking it out for a goal-kick.
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8′CHANCE! Fernandez gets the better of Luiz in the box to latch onto the cross, but he fails to make contact with his free header before Chelsea clear.
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7′Routledge has a burst down the right flank and he wins a corner by playing the ball off the legs of Cahill. Sigurdsson will deliver the corner.
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5′Chelsea win a free-kick down the right flank, but the Swansea defence pass the early test and clear the danger with relative ease from Fabregas’ cross.
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3′Olsson gets away with a loose bit of play in the box as he loses possession to Pedro, but the referee adjudges that the left-back was fouled by the Spaniard.
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2′OVER! Pedro misses a decent chance to test Fabianski in the early stages as he collects a pass on the edge of the box from the resulting corner. He shoots with his right foot, but blasts his effort over the bar.
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1′Chelsea press early down the left flank before Alonso whips the ball across to Moses on the right. He wins a corner off the legs of Olsson.
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1′We’re underway at Stamford Bridge.
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The players are making their way out on to the pitch, so we should be underway shortly.
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STAT ATTACK! Swansea’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last season was the first point they had gained in their visit to the stadium.
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STAT ATTACK! Chelsea have failed to win their last three Premier League matches against Swansea, including their 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium earlier this season.
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Nathan Dyer’s season-ending injury has prompted Clement into one change this afternoon. Wayne Routledge replaces him in the line-up on the right flank.
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Marcos Alonso and N’Golo Kante also start, while Cesc Fabregas retains his place ahead of Nemanja Matic following his fine performance at Molineux.
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Chelsea have recalled the majority of their starters that were rested for the FA Cup clash against Wolves. Thibaut Courtois returns in goal, while the back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and David Luiz are also restored.
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Swansea subs: Ayew, Amat, Britton. Baston, Nordfeldt, Rangel, Narsingh.
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SWANSEA CITY (4-3-3: Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson; Fer, Cork, Carroll; Routledge, Llorente, Sigurdsson.
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Chelsea subs: Begovic, Zouma, Loftus-Cheek, Matic, Batshuayi, Willian, Terry.
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CHELSEA (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Pedro, Costa, Hazard.
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The team news has been announced and we’ll start with the home side.
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Swansea have shown a strong spirit in their resurgence, including a memorable 3-2 victory over Liverpool at Anfield in January. As a result, expect them to battle the Blues hard this afternoon.
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The task for Conte’s men could be harder than it seemed just a few weeks ago. Former Chelsea assistant Paul Clement has revitalised the fortunes of the Welsh outfit, guiding them out of the relegation zone with a run of four wins in their last six matches.
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Chelsea hold an eight-point lead at the top of the table, with Manchester City their nearest rivals in second place. The Blues will be aiming to extend that gap further for now with a victory over the Swans this afternoon.
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The Premier League returns after a week’s absence for the fifth round of the FA Cup. Antonio Conte’s men advanced to the quarters where they will face Manchester United, but will now turn their attentions back to their surge for the top-flight crown.
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Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Swansea City at Stamford Bridge.
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