Eden Hazard makes Chelsea tick, says Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho believes Eden Hazard makes Chelsea tick after a 3-1 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

The Belgian, who the Blues boss admitted needs a rest ahead of the west London derby, was overshadowed by Andre Schurrle’s hat-trick in the comfortable win against their rivals.

However, Mourinho stressed the 23-year-old important role in the victory which helped extend Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points.

Hazard has that responsibility as an attacking player if the team is not producing

Eden Hazard

“He is not a selfish player,” said Mourinho. “He wants to win, he wants to do good for the team.

“I think he felt in the second half that the team needed someone to create (chances).

“I had also Willian warming up. Willian has this one against one, he can beat people, create important spaces for other people. But Eden did it by himself.

“I think Eden made the team click, Oscar then started moving, Schurrle too, [Nemanja] Matic was coming up to support, Ramires was walking into areas where he can also be dangerous.”

He added: “Hazard produced and after that the team followed him.

“Hazard has that responsibility as an attacking player if the team is not producing.

“You either wait and the production never starts or you decide I have to try by myself.

“And he dropped back, and he started getting the ball in deep areas, starting beating people and from that position we started having more spaces to play.”