Chelsea was completely dominant in the first half, if not exactly threatening, as the game quickly turned into an attack-defense exercise.
The half chances for Pulisic and Giroud passed without much concern, while Kurt Zouma headed up with half the net to aim from one of the half-dozen corners that Chelsea won in the first half.
Just when it seemed like we were going to rest completely frustrated and half asleep, Giroud lost his man to get to the end of a perfect Pulisic crossing and lead Chelsea to the lead from the target in the halftime shot.
Chelsea was unable to capitalize on that momentum in the second half, and Norwich began entering the game around the hour mark. Chelsea responded to that brief resurgence with a series of decent opportunities, forcing Krul to a couple of good saves (Pulisic, Alonso), before both teams shuffled their cards.
Chelsea continued to press for a second as the nerves increased. But Norwich was no real danger, and the points were safe.
Work done.
Carefree.
- Five changes since Saturday, with even more decks in the defensive and midfield associations.
- I like it for I like it
- Shots: 22 to 2. Shots on target: 6 to 0. Possession: 70-30. Dominant everywhere except on the scoreboard.
- Another goal for Giroud, his sixth in his last 8 Premier League starts.
- Another assist for Pulisic, his third in the last 5 games.
- Norwich’s eighth consecutive loss, a club record.
- Four point gap for Leicester and Manchester United, who play Thursday.
- Next: Manchester United at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final on Sunday.
- KTBFFH
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