Albion 0, Chelsea 4

Certain elements need to fall into place for Albion to end the relentless run of defeats against the Premier League elite.

They need to defend well, take their chances when they come, have key moments go for them and hope their opponents are a bit below-par.

The absence of each of these requirements made defeat on a heavy scale against the reigning champions inevitable.

Defend well? An advantage was pretty much presented to Chelsea after only four minutes.

Take chances? You hope record signing Jurgen Locadia, watching from the stands, would bury the first half header Tomer Hemed directed too close to deputy keeper Willy Caballero once the Dutchman shrugs off the hamstring injury accompanying his £14 million capture.

Hemed was not a lone culprit. The missed opportunities for the central defenders to score from set pieces - rather than Albion conceding from them - continued when Shane Duffy (below centre) sent a stooping header wide from a corner.

The Argus: Key moments going in their favour? Not when Jon Moss is the referee.

He denied Ezequiel Schelotto two penalties, one blatant when fellow Argentinian Caballero clearly brought him down, the other less clearcut but still probable when Tiemoue Bakayoko tangled with the rampaging right wing-back.

Davy Propper was also unlucky not to break his duck with a diving header against the upright early in the second half.

In all of these instances the daunting deficit established by falling two goals behind in the opening six minutes would have been halved.

Opponents nowhere near their best? The prospects pre-match were promising. Chelsea, in a barren patch of one goal in four games, were without six mainly first team regulars through injury and suspension.

Of course, they have a depth of quality in the squad which makes them far better equipped to cope with such setbacks.

As it transpired,one of the absentees, far from aiding Albion's cause, disadvantaged them.

Although Alvaro Morata lost Lewis Dunk to head Chelsea into a hard-earned lead at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day, the Spanish centre-forward has not been in much form.

The Argus: His two-card dismissal in the FA Cup against Norwich, for a dive then the protest which followed, left Duffy, Chelsea fan Dunk and Connor Goldson - added to the mix in Chris Hughton's reshuffle - facing not a traditional number nine but a mobile, now you see them now you don't triumvirate of Eden Hazard (above), Willian and Michy Batshuayi.

It was a hazard too far, as Hughton observed when asked tongue-in-cheek about Chelsea being linked in the transfer market to various tall target men, including Peter Crouch.

"They have wonderful options," he said. "We weren't quite sure what they would do up front but you know they have players in Pedro (also banned after a red card against Norwich), Hazard, Willian that if they are not playing a classic number nine can do wonderful jobs and be as effective.

"It's a different type of game and in some ways those type of players are more difficult to mark than your classic number nines."

Hazard, with his Messi-type low centre of gravity and slalom shifting of gears, was mesmerising. As painful as the result was for the Amex faithful they will surely have at least derived some measure of pleasure from the chance to witness in the flesh his performance.

He clinically despatched Chelsea's swift breakthrough (below) when Markus Suttner didn't do enough to stop a cross from Victor Moses which Dale Stephens could, perhaps should, have intercepted.

The Argus: The second was a blur of one-touch pass and move between the front trio, ended with a flourish by Willian.

Hazard settled matters with 13 minutes left, capitalising on loose play by Duffy with another run which left Albion's backtracking central defensive trio wondering which way to turn before applying another precise finish.

The fourth from Moses with a minute remaining, shrugging off Suttner with ease as he latched onto a sublime pass from young substitute Charly Musonda, ensured Albion were hard done by in much the same way as they were by the 5-1 drubbing by Liverpool.

Their response to the early double blow was admirable. The outcome could not be blamed on Hughton's uncharacteristically dramatic change in tactics and personell.

Bruno, Gaetan Bong, Anthony Knockaert, Jose Izquierdo and Glenn Murray were all left out.

News spread like wildfire that Knockaert's omission from the squad for the second time (after Huddersfield in December) was met with a stroppy exit from the stadium.

The Argus: This was denied by Hughton (above). The Frenchman, in fact, watched the match from the East Stand.

The truth is nobody had genuine cause for complaint about the manager's choices following the diabolical display at West Brom.

Hughton said: "It was mostly because we haven't had too much joy, we haven't scored a goal, against the top six. It was a system to try to match them a little bit, allowed me to play two up front even though Solly (March) played in a little bit of a different way.

"I thought there were decent periods of the game where it worked. What didn't work is they have the quality they have, we made some mistakes and we are finding it difficult to get goals at the moment."

Halting Hazard when he is on his game is even harder. "He is a world class player who can produce something out of nothing when you feel you are in good positions," Hughton said.

"He has such a wonderful acceleration and turn, it's difficult at times for players to stay with him. Of course, when you can finish it makes it even harder. All you can do is try to solve that by good defensive play and structure but it's very difficult."

Albion's Premier League destiny will be determined not by trying to deal with Hazard, Chelsea and company but by matches such as the next four against Southampton, West Ham, Stoke and Swansea.