As the Blues continued their unbeaten run of 12 games under interim boss Guus Hiddink, their opponents fell into the drop zone.
Chelsea gave a debut to Kenedy in a left-wing back position, and he did not disappoint- he struck an opener in the 39th second of the match, which was the quickest goal of the Premier League season.
Diego Costa scored the second for the Blues in first-half stoppage time, despite video replays showing he ran from offside to lift the ball over the hosts’ goalkeeper John Ruddy. The home fans were angry with referee Lee Mason’s decision not to call the offside, as it proved a pivotal moment in the game.
The Canaries put a pressure on their opponents in the second half; their striker Cameron Jerome wasted a clear chance, when he crashed the bar, but the former England U21 winger Nathan Redmond pulled one back for Norwich in the 68th minute of the match.
For the rest of the game the hosts tried hard for the equaliser, but the Blues hung on to their 2-1 lead, which help them to rise to eighth.
Norwich have found themselves on a downward spiral in 2016, as they have taken just one point from a possible 24 in the league. Their under-pressure manager Alex Neil needs points with only ten games to go in the season, but he has not been able to find the winning formula in the last two months and their goals have dried up too – they have now scored just four in their last eight league games and despite their £8 million capture of Steven Naismith, they still seem light up front.
As for Chelsea, their horrific run-of-form under their title-winning troubled boss Jose Mourinho now seems all to have been forgotten, with key players hitting great form. Their old manager Hiddink, is yet to taste league defeat since returning to the club; he may have a slight concern in that his side may lose focus in some crucial league games, but they demonstrated that they could win against sides like Norwich, which are fighting for their Premier League status. A top six-finish for the Blues suddenly appears conceivable, after suffering in the bottom 15 for the majority of the season.
