Pulis salutes ‘worthy champions’

LONDON: Tony Pulis hailed Chelsea as ‘worthy champions’ after Antonio Conte’s side secured the Premier League title with victory at West Brom on Friday night.

Michy Batshuayi was the unlikely hero for Chelsea, netting only his second league goal of the season with eight minutes to go at the Hawthorns as the Blues won their second title in three seasons.

Pulis bemoaned his side’s failure to get the ‘break’ they needed to delay Chelsea’s title party. But the West Brom boss was gracious in defeat, congratulating the champions on being the best side in the division.

“They’re worthy champions, they take a lot of credit and could do the double,” he told BBC Sport. “They’re a wonderful team and they’ve been the best. They had a poor start but recovered from that and have been the most consistent. We gave them a really tough game though.

Pulis added: “It’s the decisions that players make and a little bit of quality that makes the difference, but I can’t fault the players. Chelsea got the goal and they deserve to win the league.”

Friday’s victory means Chelsea wrapped up the title with two games to spare — a feat that looked unlikely in the early months of the season.

Chelsea could still win the double with victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup final later this month and after Friday’s clash Pulis was full of praise for the way the Italian turned round Chelsea’s season.

“It’s good working against the top managers, which Conte is. He’s been fantastic. His enthusiasm and attitude but he’s also very good tactically.

“I had a chat with him before the game and he recognised he had to change it earlier in the season, or he might have got changed himself. He changed their shape and they’ve been superb from that moment onwards.” Daily Mail