Blues eye premier league title
London, Dec. 27: Antonio Conte has challenged his Chelsea stars to use their club record run of 12 successive victories as the foundation to win the Premier League title.
Conte’s side moved seven points clear at the top after a 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Monday and they are now just two more victories away from equalling Arsenal’s Premier League record of 14 consecutive wins.
Should the Blues defeat Stoke and Tottenham in their next two games, they will have earned a significant statistical landmark.
But it is trophies that matter most to former Juventus and Italy boss Conte and he has set his sights on leading Chelsea to the Premier League crown they last won in May 2015.
“I prefer to win the title than the record,” Conte told Chelsea TV.
“Records are important, but not all. It’s important to write history only when you win.
“To be in the history of the club and to win 12 games in a row is fantastic. But with the players we want to continue.” Bournemouth switched to three at the back to try to match the Chelsea formation that has proved such a success since Conte first deployed it earlier this season.
But Conte’s men still proved too strong and the Italian views teams changing tactics as a mark of respect.
It is a nice problem for Conte to have, and one that is familiar after his time at Juventus, who won 33 of 38 games under him in 2013-14.
“After 12 wins in a row, every team who play against Chelsea try also to change their formation.” Pedro Rodriguez scored twice as leaders Chelsea crushed Bournemouth. TOURE SENDS MAN CITY SECOND Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City stole past them into second place by winning 3-0 at bottom club Hull City.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one goal and set up two more as Manchester United drew level with fifthplace Tottenham Hotspur by beating Sunderland 3-1, while champions Leicester City lost again.
Yaya Toure scored a 72nd-minute penalty after Andrew Robertson fouled Raheem Sterling, with a Kelechi Iheanacho tap-in and a Curtis Davies own goal completing the win.
Beaten 2-1 by Everton and then City on their two previous outings, Arsenal narrowly avoided going three league games without winning for the first time since January 2012.
Alexis Sanchez’s shot against the post looked to be the closest Arsenal would come until Giroud marked his return to the starting XI by looping a header over Ben Foster with four minutes to play.
Manchester United sank Sunderland to record a fourth successive league win for the first time under manager Jose Mourinho.
Ibrahimovic teed up Daley Blind to open the scoring in the 39th minute before Paul Pogba freed him to run through and net his 17th goal of the season. United are now level on points with Tottenham, who visit Southampton on Wednesday.
Fabio Borini replied for the visitors, but it was a return to forget for Sunderland manager David Moyes, sacked by United in April 2014. Chelsea’s Pedro (second from left) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Bournemouth in their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London on Monday. The hosts won 3-0.