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Jose Mourinho praised Chelsea for a "fantastic" first-half performance as they beat West Brom 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table. The hosts kept the pressure on their visitors from the start, with goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard putting them in complete control before the break. The game was effectively ended as a contest when West Brom defender Claudio Yacob was sent off before the half-hour mark for a two-footed challenge on Costa, and only an excellent performance from Baggies keeper Ben Foster kept the Londoners from adding further goals. Mourinho told Sky Sports: "I think the first half was fantastic -- really spectacular football, high quality football. "We made the pitch really wide, we created spaces to play, we were really dangerous and they couldn't stop us because we were really good. "I think the result at half-time should and could be a very different result than 2-0." But he praised the visitors for a disciplined second-half performance, saying: "In the second half with 10 men I think they did very, very well. They played very well, very well organised, and keep that short result. "Instead of blaming my players, because I could feel the intensity of our game went a little bit down, instead of being negative with my players, I prefer to praise in the way West Brom did things in the second half."
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