Week 27 of the English Premier League sees the Chelsea faithful come to the aid of their beleaguered boss as they chant his name throughout the entirety of the 3-0 win over West Brom.
Antonio Conte still has the reins of Chelsea F.C., and that means only one thing – they must have beaten West Brom.
Yup, that’s the size of it.
Bournemouth and Watford slung a noose around Conte’s neck. Albert Pierrepoint had drawn the hood over his head, and the trapdoor would have fallen had he lost the third game on the spin.
And yet, underneath that hood, there was a steely determination etched on Conte’s handsome face. The last time West Brom won at Stamford Bridge, the fans drove to the ground without a seatbelt, and the boys in blue were nonplussed.
The game was a foregone conclusion. Three goals for, none against, and Chelsea had recorded their first home win of 2018. Eden Hazard grabbed the baton and spread his magic all over the park. He linked up brilliantly with Olivier Giroud all day, and it was a neat one-two between the pair that led to Hazard’s opening goal in the 25th minute. Victor Moses smuggled in a second in the 63rd minute, before the brilliant Belgian applied the thunderbolt finish with 20-minutes remaining on the clock.
The press may have doubts about Conte’s ability to see out his 2019 contract end date; not the fans. From the moment the iridescent Italian marched out of the tunnel in his tailor-made suit, the fans sang his name and unfurled giant banners in his honour.
“They understand my passion, my will to defend this colour, this shirt, this badge,” Conte told the press after his win.
The three points see Chelsea leap over the back of Spurs to settle in fourth place a point ahead of their London rivals, and there are more challenges ahead with an FA Cup Fifth Round tie with Hull, a Champions League clash with Barcelona and a trip to Old Trafford on the horizon.
If Conte believes he has problems he should spend a minute pondering the predicament Alan Pardew finds himself in. While the likes of Swansea and West Ham saw a change of stewardship propel them North, Pardew’s appointment has done nothing but see them remain rooted to the spot.
The defeat at Stamford Bridge means the Baggies have only won one Premier League game in the last 25 matches; diabolical, and a recipe for a return to the Championship.
Pardew took a punt on the loan signing of Daniel Sturridge, and the Liverpool man lets him down, limping off in the third minute with a hamstring injury. They must have pretty physiotherapists at Anfield because his time spent on the pitch statistic is as low as West Brom‘s current league position.
“He felt his hamstring after a 60m sprint in the first moments of the game. We’ll have to nurse him,” Pardew told reporters after the match.
Nurse him?
I think he needs a solid kick in the arse.
Here are the results in full
Results in Full
Spurs 1 v 0 Arsenal
Everton 3 v 1 Crystal Palace
Swansea 1 v 0 Burnley
Stoke 1 v 1 Brighton
West Ham2 v 0 Watford
Man City 5 v 1 Leicester
Huddersfield 4 v 1 Bournemouth
Newcastle 1 v 0 Man Utd
Southampton 0 v 2 Liverpool
Chelsea 3 v 0 West Brom
Premier League Table
1. Man City – 72
2. Man Utd – 56
3. Liverpool – 54
4. Chelsea – 53
5. Spurs – 52
6. Arsenal – 45
7. Burnley – 36
8. Leicester – 35
9. Everton – 34
10. Bournemouth – 31
11. Watford – 30
12. West Ham – 30
13. Newcastle – 28
14. Brighton – 28
15. Crystal Palace – 27
16. Swansea – 27
17. Huddersfield – 27
18. Southampton – 26
19. Stoke – 25
20. West Brom – 20
Premier League Relegation Odds
West Brom 1/2
Huddersfield Evens
Stoke 6/5
Swansea 5/2
Brighton 3/1
Newcastle 4/1
Southampton 4/1
Crystal Palace 8/1
