Perfect Eden steals show

Fulham 1 Chelsea 3

For the former England striker, scoring a hat-trick in Blackpool’s 1953 FA Cup final victory was not enough to prevent it being remembered as the Stanley Matthews final, after the original Wizard of Dribble’s famous performance at Wembley.

At Craven Cottage on Saturday, the stakes weren’t as high and the shorts weren’t as baggy, but the outcome was the same. Schurrle came of age as a Chelsea player with a 16-minute hat-trick that saw off neighbours Fulham and extended the Blues’ lead at the top of the Premier League, but Eden Hazard was man of the match.

It was the German’s first hat-trick in club football and a vindication of the €21m fee Chelsea paid Bayer Leverkusen, and also justified Jose Mourinho’s demands that the winger change his game. Having been in and out of the side, Schurrle overcame the embarrassment of an early free-kick that almost went into orbit, to score three clinical goals and leave to a standing ovation from Chelsea’s fans when he was replaced in the final minutes.

And yet it was the performance of Hazard that had everyone talking, with the Belgian setting up two of Schurrle’s goals with exquisite passes and going through the full repertoire of skills that have made him Luis Suarez’s main rival for the Footballer of the Year award.

At one stage Hazard capped a mesmerising dribble down the left with by crossing with a ‘rabona’ (right leg behind the left) to the far post. The cross was as unpredictable as Fernando Torres’ lame header wide from it at the far post was predictable, so abject is the Spanish striker’s form.

Fortunately for Chelsea, Mourinho has overcome the handicap of having only Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba as his misfiring forward line by creating a side that can score for fun from midfield. Oscar was the early season pacemaker before tiring and being overtaken by Hazard, the club’s leading scorer, and Frank Lampard always chips in with his share.

Along with Schurrle, that midfield quartet have scored 29 league goals, and if one adds in the odd goal from Willian and Ramires, Chelsea’s midfield have scored three times as many goals as the 11 managed by their strikers.

It is a strategy that has put Chelsea four points ahead of the pack with 10 games to go.

Schurrle had not started a league game in 11 weeks, since a 3-2 defeat at Stoke in which he scored both Chelsea goals. He has altered physically and stylistically since then, on his manager’s orders.

“We talked a lot, and he told me I needed to change my game and my body, and that’s what I’ve done over the last two months,” he said. “I’ve worked very hard to be aggressive, to be in a good shape. I did a lot in the gym. But I wanted to do this, I needed to do this. The manager told me it as well. I wanted to change and I think I have, and now I’m ready to play more often.”

Mourinho agrees: “It is difficult for him to play 90 minutes before because he is doing things he has never done before. He is new to the Premier League and learning. But he is cold-blooded in front of goal.”

Schurrle can ultimately replace Lampard as a goalscoring midfielder, although he says: “I think I’m more of an attacker than a midfielder like Lamps. I can play as a Number 10, on the right side or something in between to get my runs into the deep and get some shots in.”

Hazard set up his first goal, in the 52nd minute, with a through pass that allowed Scurrle to run 50 yards before slotting past Marten Stekelenburg.

Another Hazard through pass set up his second 13 minutes later, and he shot home after a Torres knockdown to kill off Fulham in the 68th minute, although Johnny Heitinga scored a late goal for the home side.

Schurrle’s scoring spree looked unlikely when he hit a free-kick almost out of the ground in the first-half. “When I took that free-kick and sent it into the crowd I admit I was thinking, ‘Oh my God – it’s not going to be a good afternoon for me’, but like the team, I changed in the second half.”

Mourinho admitted to giving his players the silent treatment at half-time, uttering only one short, sharp phrase.

“He was only in the dressing room for 10-15 seconds, told us something, then everybody knew we had to change and do our best to win the game,” said Schurrle, who also praised Hazard.

“He is awesome. Eden is a great player and everybody knows it. When I play on the right wing and he’s on the left it’s perfect because I know he can take on two or three people and have the quality to make the pass to me.

“When I start my run, he always knows that I’m running and sees me. There were two perfect passes from him.”

Mourinho keeps playing down Chelsea’s title chances, pointing out that Manchester City have two games in hand and a better goal difference. But Schurrle said: “We have to believe and I think everyone believes it now. We’ve worked hard for this.

“We have to keep going, keep winning like we did at Fulham. Then we will see at the end.”

Fulham, meanwhile, are still bottom, but Scurrle’s compatriot Felix Magath believes his new charges can escape relegation. “We have to defend better, but I have seen enough to give me hope,” said the former Bayern Munich manager.

FULHAM: Stekelenburg 5; Riether 5, Heitinga 6, Hangeland 6 (Burn 15; 6), Richardson 6; Dejageh 5, Parker 7 (Karagounis 79; 6), Sidwell 6, Kasami 5 (Holtby 62; 6); Dempsey 4; Bent 5.

CHELSEA: Cech 6; Ivanovic 6, Terry 6, Cahill 7, Azpilicueta 6; Schurrle 8 (Luiz 87), Ramires 6, Matic 7, Hazard 9; Oscar 5 (Mikel 79; 6); Torres 5 (Ba 82).

Referee: Mark Clattenburg.