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Di Matteo hails perfect start

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Roberto Di Matteo feels Chelsea made an ideal start to the season against Wigan and hailed the impact of the 'outstanding' Eden Hazard.

Blues boss happy with quality Hazard brings

Roberto Di Matteo feels Chelsea made an ideal start to the season against Wigan on Sunday and hailed the impact of 'outstanding' summer signing Eden Hazard. The European champions opened their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory at the DW Stadium as Branislav Ivanovic opened the scoring within two minutes before Frank Lampard converted from the penalty spot soon after. Belgian youngster Hazard, a summer arrival from Lille, was involved in both goals, setting up the defender for his opener before winning the spot-kick. Asked if Chelsea had made the ideal start, manager Di Matteo, in full-time charge of the Blues for the first time, told Sky Sports: "I think so. First game of the season, away from home. "We had a very bright start and sometimes you don't score the goals so early on but it was perfect today that we managed to score the two goals early on. I think that that settled a lot of nerves. "We prepared for the game and the team and we were looking for a good start. It doesn't always happen but I think today they responded very well."

Outstanding

The boss added of Hazard: "He was outstanding. He produced a lot of quality within this game and was always a threat. Difficult to mark, got away from his man. It was very pleasant to watch him today." Another new signing, Oscar, was also introduced in the second half and showed glimpses of what he has to offer but Di Matteo is expecting his new-look squad to take time to gel. He said: "It's going to take a little bit of time. It's only our first game and Oscar has only been with us two days really so we need a little bit of time to work them all into our team and integrate them." Reported Chelsea target Victor Moses worked hard for Wigan but could not find the target. Di Matteo kept quiet on the forward when asked about the possibility of signing him before the transfer window closes, adding: "I don't know, I don't talk about our transfer policy. He's a good player."

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