Maurizio Sarri is confident that Eden Hazard will make a speedy recovery despite the forward coming off the field with an ankle injury during Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brighton.
Hazard assisted Pedro’s opener before finding the net himself at the Amex Stadium and Solly March’s goal in the 66th minute proved only to be a consolation for Chris Hughton’s side.
The Belgian, though, went down in a heap with seven minutes remaining of the clash and was replaced by Olivier Giroud. While Hazard walked off an ice pack applied to his ankle, Sarri played down the severity of the injury.
Eden is okay. It’s only a knock, only a knock,’ Sarri said after the victory.
‘I spoke with the doctor five minutes ago and it’s not a big problem.
Maybe one day to rest, two days at most.’ Olivier Giroud replaced the Belgian with seven minutes remaining (Picture: Getty) Hazard is confident that Chelsea are genuine title challengers despite the side sitting down in fourth place.
‘We want to be top of the league at the end of the season,’ he said. ‘We know Man City and Liverpool are good teams – we don’t want the gap to be big.’
Asked whether it was important to get on the scoresheet after nine games without a goal, Hazard replied: ‘No. I like to score, but it’s not important for me.
‘The most important thing is to win games. I just enjoy my football and that’s why I’’m on the pitch.
‘We knew before the game that we need to score a third goal. When it’s 3-0 it’s harder for teams to get back. But we didn’t and conceded – you feel the pressure.‘But we managed the game well.’