Belgium playmaker Eden Chelsea his first Premier League goals of the season, nearly a year after he netted his last one, as outgoing champions Chelsea brushed Bournemouth aside on Saturday.
Spain forward Pedro put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute, hooking in a left-foot shot after being teed up by Cesc Fabregas.
Bournemouth, who shocked Chelsea 1-0 in the reverse fixture in December, were 2-0 down after 34 minutes when the returning Hazard latched on to a Fabregas backheel to end a league drought going back 356 days.
The chants that welcomed the scoring return of last season’s Player of the Year were cut short when Bournemouth hit back two minutes later with a Tommy Elphick header.
Brazil midfielder Willian made it 3-1 with a right-foot shot as Fabregas completed a hat-trick of assists. Hazard, who scored 14 times in the league last season, then added his second of the game from close range in stoppage time.
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Hazard had been out for more than a month with a hip injury and his return to form will be a boost for Belgium ahead of the European Championship in France in June.
He lacked spark earlier in the season, when Chelsea made a lacklustre start to the defence of their title under previous manager Jose Mourinho, but looked sharp on Saturday.
“It was good to see some players who have been absent recently, scoring goals,” said interim manager Guus Hiddink.
“We worked with Eden for the last 10 days, his movement was good and we talked about playing him for 45 minutes or perhaps more. But in the end he was enjoying it and he came through the whole game.”
The win left Chelsea ninth on 47 points, and Bournemouth 13th on 41, but the Londoners can still have a big say in the title race with second-placed Tottenham Hotspur their next opponents on May 2.
“We play the next game to win and the next game is Tottenham,” said Hiddink.
