EPL: Chelsea 2-0 Brighton
Ramadan Sobhi celebrates his 60th minute equaliser
Chelsea won their sixth Premier League game in a row at Stamford Bridge, edging past Brighton 2-0 on Boxing Day.
After failing to break down Everton on Saturday, Chelsea regained their killer-instinct with second-half goals from Alvaro Morata (46) and Marcos Alonso (59).
The result keeps Chelsea in third, but they are still 13 points behind runaway league leaders Manchester City while Brighton sit 12th, four points above the drop.
Chelsea took time to warm up as they only could only point to a glaring Tiemoue Bakayoko miss after Antonio Rudiger jumped high to nod a cross down in the first period.
But the second half was only 53 seconds old when Chelsea increased their intensity and took the lead.
Click here to listen to the latest Transfer Talk podcast where the futures of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Virgil van Dijk, Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho were discussed
The combination of Cesar Azpilicueta and Morata linked up for the sixth time this season as the defender whipped a sensational ball from deep for the striker to nod home his 12th goal of the season.
Alonso forced a brilliant save from Mathew Ryan on 57 minutes from a 25-yard free-kick but beat him four minutes later when Fabregas curled in a corner that was met by Alonso with a glancing header.
Eden Hazard dazzled in the pocket and nearly added a classic goal to his collection but his dazzling individual effort was cleared off the line by Lewis Dunk.
With the game won, Chelsea eased up in the final stages which almost allowed Brighton to pull one back when Shane Duffy headed inches wide.
The result keeps Chelsea in third, but they are still 13 points behind runaway league leaders Manchester City while Brighton sit 12th, four points above the drop.
Chelsea took time to warm up as they only could only point to a glaring Tiemoue Bakayoko miss after Antonio Rudiger jumped high to nod a cross down in the first period.
But the second half was only 53 seconds old when Chelsea increased their intensity and took the lead.
Click here to listen to the latest Transfer Talk podcast where the futures of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Virgil van Dijk, Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho were discussed
The combination of Cesar Azpilicueta and Morata linked up for the sixth time this season as the defender whipped a sensational ball from deep for the striker to nod home his 12th goal of the season.
Alonso forced a brilliant save from Mathew Ryan on 57 minutes from a 25-yard free-kick but beat him four minutes later when Fabregas curled in a corner that was met by Alonso with a glancing header.
Eden Hazard dazzled in the pocket and nearly added a classic goal to his collection but his dazzling individual effort was cleared off the line by Lewis Dunk.
With the game won, Chelsea eased up in the final stages which almost allowed Brighton to pull one back when Shane Duffy headed inches wide.