Tie leaves Chelsea on outside looking in
LONDON — Chelsea appears increasingly unlikely to qualify for the Champions League after being held to a 1-1 tie by struggling West Ham on Sunday.
With six games remaining, Chelsea has fallen 10 points behind fourth-place Tottenham, which is on course to secure a place in European soccer’s elite competition for a third straight season.
“This season we have struggled and this game describes our season,” Chelsea coach Antonio Conte said.
“How many times have I said we didn’t take the chances? A lot of times, and then with one chance we conceded a goal.”
West Ham’s priority is avoiding relegation, and Javier Hernandez came off the bench to cancel out Cesar Azpilicueta’s first-half opener and secure a point that took David Moyes’ east London club six points clear of the relegation zone.
“This type of game is very difficult, you need to be very clever, very focused to stop a very good side like Chelsea,” Hernandez said.
“Thankfully we got one point which gives us a lot of confidence to keep going.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s manager cut an irritated figure on the touchline as his faltering champions saw another two crucial points slip away. Chelsea also missed out on the Champions League in its last title defence, finishing 10th in 2016.
Arsenal could also catch Chelsea after closing the gap to fifth place to three points by coming from behind to beat Southampton 3-2 in Sunday’s other game.