Eden hazard responds to maurizio sarri criticism after chelsea boss sets ambitious target

Eden Hazard believes he is capable of meeting Maurizio Sarri’s ambitious target after he scored a hat-trick in Chelsea’s 4-1 demolition of Cardiff on

Saturday. The Belgium international was in scintillating form as the FA Cup holders recovered from the early blow of falling behind to Sol Bamba’s opener to maintain their 100% start to the season and register their fifth straight win. Hazard stole the show, scoring his first hat-trick since November 2014, and was afforded a standing ovation when he was taken off with 10 minutes remaining. Even Chelsea assistant coach and club legend Gianfranco Zola was left awestruck by the 27-year-old’s display, bowing down as Hazard took his place on the bench having earned a deserved breather.

Afterwards, however, Sarri took issue with one element of his star man’s performance and believes he is capable of repeating Saturday’s goalscoring heroics on a more regular basis. He said: ‘I think Hazard can improve more. I think that he can spend less energy than now at 50 or 60 metres to the opposite goal. ‘When we have the ball in our half and he touches the ball five times or six times, so his actions it shows he spends a lot of energies, and can have more energy in the last 25 metres. I think he can score 30 or 35 goals.’ Hazard is clearly thriving under Sarri’s attack-minded approach having been shackled by Antonio Conte last season, particularly away from home when he was often asked to play in a false nine position which saw him starved of the ball.

Responding to his manager’s desire for more goals, Hazard said: ‘The manager just wants Chelsea to keep the ball, and then when we can find a solution we need to find good passes between the lines, like Jorginho, Kovacic and Fabregas can do. So, we have a lot of good players, and at the moment we are in confidence, so we shoot, we score. We need to keep this momentum. ‘We have a lot of freedom on the pitch, not just the three in front but all over the pitch, so when we are in this condition we just need to take the ball and try something, and at the moment something happens, so that is very good. ‘When I’m on the pitch I’m just trying to create chances, score goals. A hat-trick comes with confidence, so I will try to do more of this.’