Eden Hazard gets his signature moment in Chelsea's champagne season

It is a complete turnaround from the player devoid of confidence under Jose Mourinho

Hazard's goal exhibited strength, skill, pace and power in his goal

(Getty)

Eden Hazard has been playing brilliantly for Chelsea all season but up until today he was still waiting for his signature moment this season, a goal that will be re-shown and re-watched for months, worthy of his supreme talent and his centrality to this inevitable title.

Today he got it. Hazard scored one of the very best goals of his Chelsea career, a goal to confirm this crucial win and put Chelsea even closer to what will be the second Premier League title of his five seasons at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard picked up the ball near the halfway line and drove forwards with the ball. Francis Coquelin tried to foul him but he simply bounced off the man whose welterweight strength can sometimes still go underappreciated. He then ran at Laurent Koscielny, one of the best one-on-one defenders in the country for nearly a decade, forcing him backwards, turning him towards his own goal, before whipping the ball into the net before Petr Cech could even realise what had happened.

It was a classic example of Hazard’s intuitive sense for a big moment and his bravery to take responsibility when it matters. That is a skill that Arsenal’s top players, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, do not obviously share.

Hazard’s best goals are usually instinctive quick shots from the edge of the box so this one, starting with a brilliant dribble, was a joy to watch, and one of the moments of the season. That is why his Belgian national team colleagues call him ‘Hazardinho’.

What this goal was to underline the improvement in Hazard’s game, how he has gone back to the summit of the Premier League’s top performers, ahead of Diego Costa, Kevin De Bruyne, Sanchez and the rest.

Hazard of course was the best player in the country and won Footballer of the Year back in 2014-15. He was the decisive genius in that title-winning side and made a serious claim to be the next best player in the world about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Then, like plenty of his team-mates, Hazard looked like half the player during the traumatic season that followed. He grew tired of Jose Mourinho’s endless politics and games and gave the impression that he would far rather be playing anywhere else.

That is why Antonio Conte has to take so much credit for reviving Hazard’s love of the game and bringing the best of his unique ability out of him again. From day one Conte has impressed the Chelsea players with his honesty, his enthusiasm and the natural authority that comes from his having been such a successful player.

Conte has worked the players ferociously hard in training, dragging them around the pitch in their ‘shadow play’ exercises. It is boring but it has been very worthwhile, giving the Chelsea team a sense of structure and purpose again.

(Getty

(Getty)

This 3-4-3 system has also relieved Hazard from the pressure of having to look after the opposition right-back. With Marcos Alonso at wing-back to do that, Hazard can focus on staying close to Diego Costa, running at opponents and not worrying too much about what is happening behind him.

Hazard told Thierry Henry last week exactly how Conte has built a team to get the best out of him again.

"In tactics and training we do more with Conte,” Hazard said. “We work a lot of tactical positions and we know exactly what we have to do on the pitch, where I have to go and where the defenders have to go.”

It took Mourinho two seasons to get the best out Hazard and plenty of what he calls ‘confrontational leadership’, hammering Hazard in public and private to get a rise out of him.

Eventually Mourinho’s charisma and power wore off and Hazard’s confidence was destroyed. The genius of Conte has been to get the best out of Hazard in his first season at Stamford Bridge, giving him the platform to climb back to the peak of the English game.