SPURS, WE’RE COMING FOUR YOU
Blues believe they can catch rivals for the final Champions League spot
NOW the swagger is back. Now they have the bit between their teeth, with the scent of blood in their nostrlls, as Spurs wobble and Liverpool run out of steam.
Now we have a real, three-way fight for fourth place.
Antonio Conte and his Chelsea players may have failed dismally in their bid to mount a title defence this season. But boy are they finishing with a flourish.
The Reds, weary from giving their all in Rome to reach the Champions League final, simply could not summon a response once Olivier Giroud headed the 32nd-minute winner.
Conte’s men may also have provided a blueprint for Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid to cash in on later this month in Kiev.
What they’ve done for themselves is take the fight for a top-four place to the final week of the season, something few thought possible on April 7 when the gap was a yawning 10 points.
Now the Blues are just three points behind the third-placed Reds, who host Brighton next Sunday. Jurgen Klopp described that game as “a final”.
Chelsea are only two points behind fourth-placed Spurs. If only they had put this four-game winning run together sooner.
If only they had not lost their way against the likes of Leicester, Watford and West Ham over the past six months.
Conte’s team are still reliant on results going their way this week and next Sunday. But you’d back them to beat Huddersfield now on Wednesday to tee-up a grand finale.
If Conte (left) can pull it off and finish up in the Champions League after all the politics, the stand-offs, the injuries and the problems of the last 10 months, then surely Chelsea should think twice about allowing him to go.
Legendary boxing caller Michael Buffer was at Stamford Bridge to announce the teams beforehand. Chelsea were indeed ready to rumble.
They repelled an intense opening half-hour as Liverpool looked to bring the fire to west London.
Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and the hosts’ Tiemoue Bakayoko all had chances before Giroud rose highest to convert Victor Moses’ cross.
How he loves scoring against the Reds. This is now five in his last six Premier League starts against them. The former Arsenal striker will love the fact that it is Spurs as well as Liverpool in his new club’s sights.
Liverpool rallied to come back, but Chelsea were ready. Eden
Hazard was a man determined not to be upstaged on his own patch by Golden Boot frontrunner Mo Salah.
Moses made the right his own to such an extent that Klopp eventually withdrew Andy Robertson.
Bakayoko gave a performance to suggest that the £40million lavished on him last summer might not have been wasted after all.
Antonio Rudiger used all his knowledge of playing alongside Salah to ensure the Egyptian was not given an inch.
Tellingly, Liverpool had won only three of their 11 Premier League games directly after a Champions League fixture before this one. They had also managed victory in just one of their four preceding away games in the top flight. We should have seen this coming.
Now they have to watch out for Chelsea, coming up on the rails in the final furlong.