Mourinho lauds 'beautiful' Chelsea display

The Londoners continued where they left off before the international break by making it six home wins out of six in the top flight on Saturday.

Diego Costa's 11th goal in 10 Premier League games put Chelsea in front and Eden Hazard added a second as the hosts took advantage of West Brom's defensive frailties.

Albion then had midfielder Claudio Yacob sent off for a challenge on Costa after only 29 minutes and they looked set to be on the end of a hammering as the leaders caused them all sorts of problems.

Ben Foster made a string of saves but Chelsea were unable to reward their dominance with further goals, although Mourinho was more than happy with a dominant display.

"The first half was brilliant – beautiful," said the Chelsea manager. "The quality of football was high. We were playing so well, so fast and so fluid.

"We made the pitch very wide, created space and scored two goals. We should have scored more, but it was fantastic.

"In the second half it was different. We decreased our intensity and made it a little bit easier for them, but I have to say also that West Brom did very well and were well organised defensively.

"I would have liked to have killed the game and scored more goals to give the crowd a little bit more of what we gave them in the first half, but it wasn't possible. We have to think first about the points.

"But when I use the word beautiful in relation to the football we played in the first half, I think we all agree. The football was brilliant.

"They [the players] did really well and you could feel it from the beginning. I can stimulate and motivate, but the reality is that it’s up to them and they were fantastic."