Chelsea beats Swansea, 2 points behind Spurs in hunt for 4th

Posted April 28, 2018 7:00 am

The Associated Press

Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger, top, and Swansea City's Jordan Ayew battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (David Davies/PA via AP) The Associated Press

SWANSEA, Wales (AP) - Chelsea's chase for Champions League qualification gathered pace on Saturday when Cesc Fabregas clinched a 1-0 win at Swansea that deepened the hosts' concerns about being relegated from the English Premier League.

Fabregas struck his 50th Premier League goal in the fourth minute on a wet evening in south Wales. Eden Hazard found Fabregas unmarked in the penalty area and the Spanish midfielder curled a shot past goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

"We were quite comfortable," Fabregas said. "The last few minutes we could have controlled a little better but Swansea need to avoid relegation."

Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Stoke earlier in the day gave a lift to Chelsea's hopes of still making the top four with three games remaining after mounting a dismal defense of its Premier League title.

Fifth-place Chelsea is six points behind Liverpool, with a game in hand over the third-place team. Chelsea and Liverpool meet at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. Tottenham is only two points ahead of Chelsea going into Monday's match against Watford.

Swansea has gone six games without a win and is one point above the relegation zone with three games to play.

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More AP Premier League coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/PremierLeague

Swansea City's Jordan Ayew, left, and Chelsea's N'Golo Kante battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (David Davies/PA via AP) The Associated Press

Swansea City's Ki Sung-yueng, left, and Chelsea's N'Golo Kante battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (David Davies/PA via AP) The Associated Press

Swansea City's Kyle Naughton, left, and Chelsea's Olivier Giroud battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (David Davies/PA via AP) The Associated Press

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