Chelsea Men and Women team put off-pitch distractions aside to beat  Norwich and West Ham 

On a tumultuous day, Chelsea Women also cruised to a commanding win over West Ham and closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal to five points

Chelsea Men and Women team put off-pitch distractions aside to beat  Norwich and West Ham 
Chelsea-men-women

Thursday will inevitably have been a day that Thomas Tuchel will have wanted to end rather quickly, with Chelsea being thrown into complete disarray by the British government's decision to freeze the assets of club owner Roman Abramovich, yet the German coach watched his players put any distractions to one side in a 3-1 win away to Norwich City.

Elsewhere Chelsea Women defeated West Ham Women 4-1.

The day started with stories linking Tuchel to a move to Manchester United, with serious uncertainty reigning over just what acts Chelsea will be able to do as a business from Thursday onwards.

With Three Mobile withdrawing their sponsorship before the meeting at Carrow Road, fans were eager for their team to give them something to feel cheerful about.

It took the Blues just three minutes to make that happen when Trevoh Chalobah was on the receiving end of a fine corner taken by Mason Mount, and the academy graduate nodded the ball into the net.

Norwich put up barely any resistance and just 10 minutes later it was 2-0 as Mount himself got himself on the scoresheet after Kai Havertz passed it to him across the penalty area.

It took until the second half for the hosts to threaten the visiting European champions, and it came through the penalty spot after Chalobah handled the ball inside his own area.

The referee, Martin Atkinson, didn't get the clearest view of the incident with VAR helping him make a decision.

Teemu Pukki fired his penalty into the right-hand side of the net, setting up a possible grandstand finish.

Hopes of a Norwich equaliser evaporated in the first minute of injury time though, with Havertz receiving a pass from N'Golo Kante inside the penalty area, and the German sent a precise shot into the top left corner, providing Chelsea with three points and a brief respite from events off the pitch.

In a tumultuous day Chelsea Women also cruised to a commanding win over West Ham and closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal to five points.

Manager Emma Hayes spoke of a "difficult day" after Roman Abramovich's attempt to sell the club was halted by government sanctions.

Before the match, Hayes said that she hoped her players would be able to "switch off" for 90 minutes and forget about what has undoubtedly been a tough day for the London club.

Chelsea were all over West Ham from the first whistle and Harder's 14th goal of the season came after 20 minutes to reward the Blues' pressure.

Charles' long-range shot took a wicked deflection off West Ham captain Gilly Flaherty just three minutes later before Ji's sublime floated ball into the box was nodded home by Harder.

West Ham had their chances - Katerina Svitkova should have scored from a header while West Ham's top goalscorer Claudia Walker also came close - but the damage had already been done.

Kerr silenced West Ham's hopes of a comeback with a clinical right-footed finish, Chelsea's only shot on target in the second half, after Brynjarsdottir had pulled one back for West Ham just after the break.

The victory takes the Blues, who were beaten in the Continental Cup final by Manchester City, to within five points of Arsenal with two games in hand and ends West Ham's 10-game unbeaten run at home.