Eden Hazard reflects on his best game of the season against Tottenham

“The game went in the direction we wanted to take, we had a very good period in the first half where we should score, and in the second half we had a couple of chances and one of them is a giant chance”.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho denied suggestions of a rift with Diego Costa after dropping the striker for his side’s goalless draw at Tottenham. But there are 13 matches gone and another 25 to go. “When you look now, [the break] was good for me as I have gained in physical fitness”, he said.

Costa, who had always previously been selected when fit, sat out Sunday’s draw at Tottenham Hotspur despite the champions not having another centre-forward in their squad.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10 matches we don’t lose one”, Mourinho said after the game.

“The fact that I want big things, I want to win and I want to win titles and so on is not a question of being humble or not being humble”.

It follows consecutive wins over Norwich City and Maccabi Tel Aviv for Chelsea, and the overall nature of their performance gave their coach encouragement.

“I’m very happy with the performance and the team played well”.

Eden Hazard has declared that Chelsea are determined to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League this season as they look to recover from their slow start to the campaign.

In contrast, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was “a little bit disappointed” with only a point but argued such a response suggested how far his team had come.

Pochettino had described the noon kick-off as a “joke” following Thursday night’s 2,500-mile flight from Azerbaijan, where his side were in Europa League action.

The record caps a remarkable rise for 28-year-old Vardy, who was playing non-league football in 2012 and had been playing in the seventh tier of English football as recently as 2010.

Harry Kane’s best effort was spilled by Asmir Begovic but the goalkeeper recovered in windy conditions to collect the ball before the striker could react.

Tottenham lost Ryan Mason to injury during the second half and the manager hopes the midfielder will not be ruled out long term.

Spurs, unbeaten since the opening-day loss to Manchester United, remain fifth on 25, four points shy of the top of the table. “It was a hard trip but we didn’t want any excuses”.