What Eden Hazard did on Stamford Bridge return as Chelsea icon rolls back years at Soccer Aid

Inevitable. Eden Hazard . Inevitable. After Usain Bolt was taken down by Danny Dyer – a sentence I never thought I would be writing – it was time for Hazard to roll back the years in front of the adoring Stamford Bridge faithful.

The Belgian, who left Chelsea in 2019 after seven years in west London, got his free-kick over the wall and beat David James to level the match for World XI at Soccer Aid. It was a reminder – if anyone needed reminding – of the 33- year-old’s class. He’s a truly unique footballer. Robbie Keane said before the game that the way Hazard dribbles is reminiscent of Lionel Messi. But that simply isn’t true.

Hazard dribbles like nobody else. He glides across the pitch. His body positioning when running makes him an incredibly difficult player to tackle – legally, anyway. While it was only Soccer Aid and he was obviously coming up against people he is a lot better than, there were moments where Chelsea supporters got to relive what they used to see on a regular basis.

It was very much the Eden Hazard show in west London on Sunday night but it was great to see a few more from the Chelsea past at Stamford Bridge. Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Gary Cahill, Joe Cole, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard as well as Mauricio Pochettino and his backroom staff, were all present at Chelsea’s stadium.

Pochettino was in great spirits in the dugout – as you could see from his reaction to Tommy Fury’s attempt at a shot in the first-half.

Lampard, too, was back doing some management work. Hopefully it won’t be too long until we see him with another job on a permanent basis. A great event for a fantastic cause. The show, though, was stolen by Eden Hazard from a Chelsea perspective.