Swansea 0 Chelsea 1: Cesc Fabregas curls home beautiful left-footed winner for Blues
The Swans handed the Blues the lead after sloppy play helped Eden Hazard tee-up the ex-Arsenal man on his left foot
CESC FABREGAS scored the goal which could have massive repercussions at both ends of the Premier League.
Chelsea’s victory means they are now just two points behind fourth-placed Tottenham in the battle for a Champions League spot for next season.
Defeat for City leaves them just a point above the relegation zone in the fight to stay out of the Championship next season.
Fabregas struck with a delightful curled shot after just four minutes as Chelsea continued their improvement in form having now won four games in a row – their best run since September.
Man of the match Eden Hazard picked out the Spaniard with a clinical reverse pass in the first attack of the game.
Chelsea also cut their deficit on third-placed Liverpool to six points on whom they have a game in hand and host the Champions League semi finalists in their next Premier League game in a game that now has huge significance.
INTERACTIVE STATS – CLICK on the categories to find out how the teams fared
Swansea boss Carlos Carvalhal’s defensive set up with five at the back left his team unable to make much impact in the first half after they were winded by the early setback.
They have now failed to win in any of their last seven games and are only a point above Southampton, who cranked up the tension at the bottom of the table by beating Bournemouth 2-1 earlier in the day.
SAINTS MARCH ON Southampton 2 Bournemouth 1: Dusan Tadic at the double
INTERACTIVE LINE-UPS– CLICK on a player’s number below to see their stats
Swansea made more of a fight of it in the second half but failed to make the breakthrough and City have now scored only two goals during their winless run.
Their penultimate home game of the season is against the Saints, followed by another relegation ‘six-pointer’ against Stoke in their final match on May 13.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte again preferred January signing Olivier Giroud in place of club-record signing Alvaro Morata, who was on the bench.
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