Conte warns Chelsea not to slip up
Spurs not giving up
LONDON – Chelsea manager Antonio Conte promised to keep a close eye on his players’ concentration levels after they tightened their grip on the Premier League title race by beating Arsenal.
Goals from Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas gave Chelsea a 3-1 win on Saturday that left them 12 points clear of Arsenal and nine points above second-place Tottenham who edged Middlesbrough 1-0.
But Conte said his own experiences of home-straight collapses as a player and coach with Juventus means he will not consider the race over until the trophy is in his hands.
“I don’t slip and I don’t want my players to slip,” he told reporters at Stamford Bridge. “In my squad I have a lot of players with good experience, because they won a lot in their careers. They know that until now we haven’t won the title.
“And it’s important to know this, to keep our antennae very high, because in my career as a footballer, above all as a footballer, I won a lot, but I lost a lot.
“And when you lose three finals of the Champions League and you win only one, I think you have a great hunger.”
The chief talking point from Saturday’s game centred around Chelsea’s 13thminute opener, awarded despite Alonso cleaning out Hector Bellerin with his forearm as he leapt to head the ball in. Bellerin had to go off, to be replaced by Gabriel, and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt it was “100% a foul”.
Hazard scored a stupendous second goal in the 53rd minute.
Former Arsenal captain Fabregas lobbed in Chelsea’s third after a misplaced kick.
Wenger conceded his side’s defensive errors and attacking profligacy had been equally responsible for the outcome of the match.
“We were really naive and not clinical in our defending,” said the Frenchman, who watched as he served the third game of a fourmatch touchline suspension.
Once again Arsenal’s title hopes have faded miles from the finish line. When asked where defeat at Chelsea left his side’s season, Wenger said: “It leaves us to focus and prepare to win the next game. And Chelsea? It’s for them to lose it. ”– LONDON – Mauricio Pochettino is refusing to give up on Tottenham’s Premier League title challenge after a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough left them nine points behind leaders Chelsea.
Spurs had to work hard for victory on Saturday and needed a Harry Kane second-half penalty to end Middlesbrough’s resistance.
“Closing the gap will be difficult – nine points is tough to reduce but in football you always have to believe,” said Tottenham boss Pochettino.
Tottenham dropped points against Sunderland in their previous game.
Middlesbrough had already gone to Arsenal and Manchester City and returned with a point – and Pochettino’s side were left frustrated by Middlesbrough goalkeeper Victor Valdes’s heroics.
The pressure told when Bernardo Espona hauled down Heung-Min Son for a 58th minute penalty that was converted by Kane.
Middlesbrough are looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone and their lack of goals could come back to haunt them. –