Chelsea wears Premier League crown again
WEST BROMWICH, England — Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has had the golden touch in his first season in the English Premier League, all the way through to the title-clinching game.
With Chelsea scoreless at West Bromwich Albion on Friday and on the verge of squandering the first of three opportunities to regain the trophy, Conte took the bold decision to remove star winger Eden Hazard and introduce substitute Michy Batshuayi, a player with just one goal to his name all season.
Within six minutes, Batshuayi was poking home a close-range finish and getting mobbed by teammates in front of Chelsea’s jubilant visiting fans.
It sealed a 1-0 win at The Hawthorns, meaning Batshuayi had just won the league for Chelsea. He later referred to himself as an “unexpected hero” in a Twitter post.
“The beauty of football,” Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas said, “a player who didn’t play a lot scores the winning goal for the championship.”
Batshuayi’s 82nd-minute strike was only his second league goal — and first since August — in a tough first season in England.
As for Conte, the season couldn’t have gone any better.
The Italian became the fourth manager — after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Manuel Pellegrini — to win the Premier League in his first season in English soccer, and he was thrown in the air by his celebrating players after the final whistle.
His moves in the transfer market, his tactical switches, and his late substitutions have all come off. He has now won four straight domestic league titles, taking three in a row with Juventus from 2012-14 before a spell in charge of Italy.
“Michy paid me a lot with this change,” Conte said. “It was great. It wasn’t easy for me to arrive in England and try different habits, a different language and inherit players after a bad season.”
Chelsea has gone from being champion in 2015, to finishing 10th in 2016 following the worst Premier League title defence ever, to being champions again.
“People have written us off as a team and individually,” Chelsea defender Gary Cahill said, “and this has shut them up.”
Chelsea — the league leader since early November — has won 28 of its 36 games, including nine of its last 11 matches, to resist a late title challenge by Tottenham. The second-place Spurs are 10 points behind Chelsea with three games remaining.
It could get even better for Conte’s team, which has also reached the final of the FA Cup, where it will play Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on May 27.
For now, Conte will savour winning the Premier League.
When Batshuayi scored Friday, Conte jumped into the arms of his fellow coaches. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sprinted over to join in the big huddle.
“These are moments you need to cherish,” Cahill said. “I can’t wait to get my hands on that trophy.”