 |
| Eden Hazard [Photo: BBC] |
Roberto Di Matteo was thrilled by the influence new signing Eden Hazard had on Chelsea in their 2-0 win at Wigan.
The Belgian midfielder set up Branislav Ivanovic's opening goal with a sharp turn and pass and was felled for a penalty which Frank Lampard converted.
"Hazard was outstanding," said Di Matteo. "He showed all his qualities and it was a pleasure to watch him. He was a big threat and difficult to mark.
"He combined well with his team-mates, exactly what we were looking for."
Chelsea signed 21-year-old Hazard from French side Lille for a reported £32m in June and he made an immediate impact in his first Premier League game.
Di Matteo continued: "He's got great technical ability. He's got a burst of pace as well, he can play with his back to goal and he's got a lot that he can bring to our team."
After racing into the 2-0 lead with just six minutes played, Chelsea failed to register another shot on target in the first half, but Di Matteo felt they did enough to win the game.
"It was perfect that we scored twice early on - it settled a lot of nerves," he said.
"I'm very pleased with the performance and the result. It's always tricky the first game of the season, like you saw from the results on Saturday.
"We nearly scored the third goal, which probably would have killed off the game completely, but I thought we were always quite comfortable."
Martinez was frustrated by Wigan's start but pleased by his side's reaction to going two goals behind.
"We started really softly," he conceded. "We had a lack of intensity and if you do that in this league you will get punished.
