Cesc Fabregas revels in 'beautiful' win as star midfielder pulls the strings in Chelsea's victory over West Brom

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In the end they only won by two, but the way Chelsea were playing it could have been much worse for West Bromwich Albion.

A scintillating opening 30 minutes, during which Diego Costa and Eden Hazard found the net, was all it took for Jose Mourinho’s men to dispatch the visitors. When West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob saw red shortly after, Chelsea were home and dry.

The Portuguese’s attacking blueprint was obvious from the off, but the visitors were powerless to do anything about it. In theory it was a simple exercise — win possession from a West Brom goal-kick, drive forward and pick out Costa, Hazard, Oscar or Willian.

Cesc Fabregas was in sublime form at Stamford Bridge recording his 10th league assist of the season

Costa runs away in celebration as Stamford Bridge erupts after his opening strike 

Costa got Chelsea on their way to a comfortable three points against West Brom in the Premier League match

Hazard shoots and scores to make it 2-0 at Stamford Bridge against West Brom on Saturday 

Mourinho was clearly impressed with his side’s display, but refused to address talk of the Barclays Premier League title already being in the bag. ‘We are playing fantastically but if you don’t get silverware, it is a frustration,’ he said. ‘Do you remember a team that played fantastic football and won nothing? You remember ones that won.’

Chelsea’s first-half performance showed flashes of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona side, and fittingly, it was a former Barca man who made them tick.

Cesc Fabregas, who recorded his 10th league assist of the season, was the brains behind the operation. The £30million summer signing pulled the proverbial strings from deep, and with such attacking talent in front of him, he was obviously enjoying himself.

Fabregas and Costa were criticised by Sergio Ramos (above) for a lack of commitment to the Spanish side 

‘I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I don’t remember playing and enjoying a match as much as I did in the first half,’ Fabregas said. ‘It was a beautiful performance. We created plenty of chances and had control,’ the Spaniard told Match of the Day.

‘It is difficult after internationals because the team doesn’t have time to work on things but I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the first 45 minutes.’

It was apt that Fabregas mentioned the international break as the club versus country issue again dominated the build-up to a Chelsea fixture. He and Costa withdrew from Spain’s squad for a European Championship qualifier with Belarus and a friendly against Germany, citing hamstring and groin injuries.

Jose Mourinho kept Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season intact against West Brom with a 2-0 victory 

It prompted Spain defender Sergio Ramos to say he would like players to show the same commitment to the national side as they do their clubs. But Mourinho, Ramos’s old manager at Real Madrid, dismissed the comments.

‘Ramos is a fantastic player, but he is not a doctor,’ said Mourinho. ‘He is not a doctor and I am the same. My doctor and the Spanish national team doctor, they had the scans and decided the player was not in a fit condition to play. I don’t think Sergio did a medicine masters in the last couple of years to understand it.’