Elated Chelsea salute Terry
Premier League winners send captain off in style with 5-1 demolition of Sunderland Juventus make history with sixth Serie A title in row
Premier League champion Chelsea celebrated their title in style with a 5-1 victory over relegated Sunderland. For once the football took a back seat at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea fans bid farewell to John Terry as the club’s long-serving captain made his final home appearance.
Sunderland took a shock lead through Javier Manquillo but goals from Willian, Eden Hazard, Pedro and Michy Batshuayi’s late brace ensured Chelsea’s party wasn’t spoilt.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte fielded a strong lineup with the only notable alteration being the inclusion of Terry, who was making his 717th appearance for the club.
Terry was given a guard of honour by his teammates as he was symbolically withdrawn in the 26th minute — matching the shirt number he has worn throughout his 19-year professional career with the club.
“It was very important to find the right solution to celebrate a great champion, a great legend for this club, I think he deserved to start the game,” Conte said.
“It was great and I think the players recognise his career at Chelsea.”
In slightly bizarre circumstances, Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was asked by Chelsea striker Diego Costa to kick the ball out of play to ensure the Blues got the timing of their celebration correct.
“We knew it was happening. I think John Terry on his own deserves a great send off and he got it today,” Sunderland manager David Moyes said.
Sunderland fullback Manquillo Juventus became the first team to win the Serie A six times in a row when they beat Crotone 3-0 to clinch the title with one game to spare.
Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala and Alex Sandro shared the goals as the Turin side also won a league and cup double for the third time in a row and stayed on course for a treble.
Atalanta clinched fifth place and a spot in the Europa League group stage by winning 1-0 at Empoli and AC Milan made sure of sixth place, and a place in the Europa League qualifiers, by beating Bologna 3-0.
Juve’s win over their relegation- shocked the home side as he volleyed into the roof of the net after just three minutes.
But the Blues were level just five minutes later as Willian’s powerful strike squeezed past Jordan Pickford.
Sunderland limited Chelsea’s chances as the home fans praised Conte with regular stadium-wide chants of “Antonio”.
Chelsea took the lead in the 61st minute through their best attacking player this season — Hazard.
Diego Costa chested down and played in Hazard on the left, who powered his shot across goal and past Pickford.
The assist proved to be Costa’s final contribution as he was withdrawn — notably waving as he left the field, further fuelling rumours that he will leave the Premier League in a lucrative move to China this summer.
Pedro came off the bench to take advantage of Joleon Lescott’s poorly judged header back to Pickford before setting up Batshuayi.
The Belgium forward then added another in stoppage time to crown a perfect afternoon for Chelsea.
After lifting the fifth Premier League trophy of his career, Terry struggled to contain his emotion as he addressed the club’s supporters.
He said: “Today is without a doubt one of the most difficult days of my life. Thank you will never ever be enough, but I’m going to . . . be supporting this team and the players for years to come.”
Chelsea have the chance to complete a domestic double when they face Arsenal in the FA Cup final next Sunday. threatened opponents took them to 88 points from 37 games, four clear of AS Roma who won 5-3 at Chievo on Sunday. Napoli are a further point behind in third, the Champions League playoff spot.
Juventus, Italy’s most successful side in domestic terms with 33 league titles, will face Real Madrid in the Champions League final on June 3 when they will try for the treble.
“The sixth consecutive title is something extremely significant,” said Juve’s 39-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who has won eight Serie A titles at the club.“We have written indelible pages in the history of football.”
Crotone had won five and drawn two of their past seven games as they made a late bid to escape the drop but were facing a Juventus side who have dropped only two points at home all season.
The visitors were able to resist for only 12 minutes until Mandzukic turned in Juan Cuadrado’s low cross.
Dybala curled in a stunning 25-metre free-kick six minutes before halftime and Alex Sandro completed the scoring in the 83rd minute with a header which edged over the line after bouncing down off the crossbar.
Crotone are 18th in the 20-team table but remained only one point behind Empoli, the team immediately above the drop zone.
Genoa, who have had a dreadful second half of the season, made sure of survival when they beat Torino 2-1 with goals from Luca Rigoni and Giovanni Simeone.
Meanwhile Inter Milan avoided setting an unwanted club record of nine league matches without a win by beating Lazio 3-1 away yesterday after their opponents had two players sent off. — AAP ITALY