'Dominant' Chelsea open seven-point lead at top of PL table post 2-0 West Brom win

Chelsea continued their dominance in the Premier League as they opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-0 win over 10-man West Bromwich Albion.

Diego Costa and Eden Hazard helped Chelsea secure a one-sided win over 10-man West Brom. Costa's chest down and volley got the ball rolling for Jose Mourinho's side in the 11th minute followed by Hazard's goal as he was gifted a cheap second after 25 minutes, firing home after West Brom switched off at a corner.

Claudio Yacob's two-footed lunge on Costa earned him a straight red card from Lee Mason, effectively ending the contest inside half an hour and West Brom were spared further pain but it was nevertheless a chastening loss for the visitors, who were second best by a considerable margin in all areas, The BBC reported.

Chelsea almost went ahead inside five minutes when Hazard's low cross was turned goalwards by John Terry but Ben Foster got down to divert the ball away.

West Brom's plans for Costa looked clear early on when three defenders crowded him out in the area, but he escaped their attentions to devastating effect on 11 minutes.

In what was Chelsea's first home game since Jose Mourinho criticised the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, their performance was greeted enthusiastically by the fans.

They had another goal to cheer on 25 minutes, the West Brom defence dozing at a corner and allowing Cesc Fabregas to deliver short and low to Hazard, who drifted away from Craig Gardner's half-hearted challenge before firing an untidy deflected finish through Foster.

Five minutes later, Yacob, making his first league start of the season, was sent off for a wild tackle on Costa.

However, for all their dominance, Chelsea could not make any further inroads after break.

West Brom boss Alan Irvine said that they had a game plan that was made more difficult by the first goal, which he thought was offside. But he added that the second one he was disappointed about, as they pride themselves on being organised at set-pieces and they weren't as organised as they should have been.