An embattled Chelsea, facing the fallout of sanctions against former owner Roman Abramovich, managed to secure a convincing 3-1 away win against Norwich City in the Premier League on Thursday.

The visitors started strongly in Carrow Road and it only took Chelsea three minutes to find the back of the net after youngster Trevoh Chalobah rose to meet an early corner by Mason Mount to head the ball home.

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Despite Norwich’s attempts to string together attacks against the visiting side, Chelsea were robust defensively, and added to their lead 10 minutes after the first goal when Mount latched on to a Kai Havertz cross and rifled the ball into the right side of the Norwich goal.

Chelsea continued to heap pressure on Norwich, aided by poor play by the home side, but could not extend their lead further. The first half ended 2-0 in Chelsea’s favour.

Both Norwich and Chelsea began the second half by making substitutions, and Chelsea nearly made it 3-0 in the 50th minute but was denied by a save from Norwich keeper Tim Krul.

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Although Norwich improved marginally in the second half, Dean Smith’s men did not pose any threat to the Blues, and Chelsea continued to dominate proceedings for the much of the second half.

However, Norwich were provided with a lifeline in the 68th minute when Chalobah appeared to handle the ball in the Chelsea penalty box. A VAR check confirmed the offence, and a penalty was awarded to Norwich, which Teemu Pukki calmly converted to bring Norwich back into the game.

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The goal breathed new life into Norwich but the hosts could not build momentum and take the game to Chelsea, who extended their lead further via a Havertz goal in the 90th minute.

The 3-1 win cemented Chelsea’s position in the third spot of the Premier League table: the Blues now have 56 points 27 games.

Norwich, meanwhile, remain at the bottom of the table with 17 points from 28 games.