Victor Moses made his return from injury in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Swansea City at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, Tammy Abraham could not play against his parent club so watched the game from the stands.
Antonio Conte's men were made to work for most of the first period, toiling hard to break down a well-organized Swansea who sat deep and soaked up pressure.
Chelsea's best chance of the relatively quiet first half fell to Alvaro Morata but his teasing one-touch effort was diverted over by Lukas Fabianski.
The Blues would eventually nudge themselves ahead on the 55th minute, N'golo Kante's initial effort was blocked by Wilfried Bony but Antonio Rudiger reacted quickly to nod home from close range.
Victor Moses would replace Davide Zappacosta in the 75th minute, coming on for his first appearance since limping off against Crystal Palace last month to help his side see out the win.
Chelsea cut Manchester United's lead over them to three points with the win, staying in third with 29 points from 14 games while Swansea are 19th with just nine points.