Eden Hazard departed this contest with a grimace seven minutes from time, his right ankle still smarting from the damage inflicted moments earlier by Dale Stephens’ unpunished challenge. The Belgian has grown used to taping on the ice packs in the dugout, and would rip the joint free once the final whistle had blown, but at least he could be warmed by the knowledge he had inflicted wounds of his own on the opposition.

This had been Hazard at his mesmeric best, one of those displays where defenders seem hypnotised by his skill and shrink at his every involvement, the ball seemingly glued to his instep as he scuttles at pace through massed ranks of markers. The first tackle tends to leave him hobbling these days but, like a footballing Gordon Greenidge, he is at his most dangerous when the limp is established and the adrenaline is flowing. For an hour Brighton & Hove Albion had no answer. It was to their credit that they rallied late-on to make the closing stages so uncomfortable for Chelsea after what had initially threatened to be a saunter.

Albion’s belated aggression came close to delivering parity, but they could not quite retrieve the two-goal deficit that Hazard had effectively established. There had already been an early assist to force Chelsea ahead, but the Belgium captain will have taken particular satisfaction from a first goal since early October, for all that his first reward for 12 matches came courtesy of Brighton’s generosity. Leon Balogun, in for the suspended Shane Duffy, scuffed a pass from the halfway line straight to Willian just after the half-hour, the Brazilian merely easing the ball forward for Hazard to charge unchecked into vacant territory.

His finish was dispatched crisply inside Mat Ryan’s near post, with the goalkeeper’s weight instinctively tipping the other way in anticipation of a shot towards the far corner. If Hazard is unhappy as a central striker, a role he was reluctant to play for Antonio Conte, then he is doing himself no favours with his recent productivity. “He could be very important in this position,” said Maurizio Sarri, aware that Hazard has been directly involved in the majority of his team’s league goals this season. “He’s very able to come out and play with his teammates, very able to create spaces. Now he has to improve attacking the box.”

Hazard’s charge through the defensive line inside Albion’s penalty area had already thrust Chelsea ahead, a weighted diagonal pass eventually presenting Pedro with a tap-in at the far post after a period of prolonged possession to leave Brighton utterly panicked. Sarri had tripped over a rack of energy drinks loitering in his technical area in the build-up to that goal, his gaze fixed upon Hazard wriggling into space. By the time he had recovered his dignity, his team were ahead.

Not that the Italian would depart this fixture entirely satisfied. Marcos Alonso would belt a shot against the woodwork, but Chelsea retain the ability to wilt from a position of apparently complete authority. It had cost them at Wolves this month. Such was the ferocity of Brighton’s late revival, the home side bolstered by Solly March’s close-range finish from Bernardo’s nod down, that this might have been a repeat had Hazard not established slightly more leeway than at Molineux.

Alonso might have been dismissed after hauling back March after Yves Bissouma’s through-ball, albeit the pass appeared to be running well away from the winger. David Luiz was also guilty of a petulant flick of a boot which caught Florin Andone. “When we have the feeling of being in full control of the match, we are dangerous for ourselves,” offered Sarri. “Suddenly, the level of application and attention is lowered. I think [their goal was] the first situation in our box for 30 minutes. But the feeling when we are in confidence, when we are sure of being in control of the match, is dangerous for us.”

That will have to be addressed. Brighton could cling to that late revival, despite their frustration that the first hour had been uncharacteristically tentative and sloppy. It was as if the home side were still scarred from the 4‑0 drubbing they had endured here to these opponents last term, for ever braced to be sliced open by a fluid front three.

A physically imposing team who had lost only once in 10 top-flight home games seemed to shrink in this company, diminished by the speed and incision of their opponents’ passing. And yet the last half-hour, when Andone injected pace and aggression into their display, offered a hint of what might have been.

“The first goal knocked the confidence out of us and the second was avoidable,” said their manager, Chris Hughton. “All you can do is ask the boys to respond at half-time and at least we finished with a good response. We can take something from that.”

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Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pedro celebrates after scoring Chelsea’s first goal. Photograph: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

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