Chelsea put off-field worries aside to beat Norwich

Chelsea put their off-field problems behind them as goals from Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz gave them a 3-1 win at bottom side Norwich.

Only minutes after Thomas Tuchel had insisted he was still happy at the club despite owner Roman Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK Government on Thursday, Chalobah nodded them ahead at Carrow Road to cast aside any questions about his squad's mindset.

It was two inside a quarter of an hour as Mount fired powerfully past Tim Krul after good work from Havertz, as a feeble Norwich struggled to deal with Chelsea's intensity and were fortunate to go in at the break within two goals of their visitors.

"2-0 is always a difficult scoreline if you don't score the next goal," was Tuchel's assessment of his side's half-time lead, and so it proved from a rejuvenated Norwich.

A double change at the interval provided just the tonic they required, with Milot Rashica's raw pace and direct running, as well as a change in shape from manager Dean Smith, causing the Blues all sorts of issues after the break.

When Chalobah was penalised for handball by a VAR review, Teemu Pukki's penalty provided a richly-deserved route back into the game with 20 minutes to go, but, despite plenty of bright build-up play, the Premier League's basement side never had enough cutting edge to truly threaten an equaliser.

Instead, Chelsea put the game to bed through another increasingly common moment of Havertz magic, as the German's postage-stamp finish found the top corner from N'Golo Kante's square ball in the final minute of normal time.

The Blues' third win in a row moves them eight points clear of Arsenal and seven behind second-placed Liverpool, who have played a game less. Norwich remain rooted to the