Brace yourself: Willian won’t give up on title...
WILLIAN insists Chelsea will not give up on the Premier League title after they bounced back from their loss to West Ham with a 3-1 win at Huddersfield.
Blues boss Antonio Conte wrote off his side’s hopes of defending their crown in the wake of their defeat to the Hammers, but saw his side respond in style with goals from Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willian and Pedro. Laurent Depoitre headed a last-gasp consolation for the hosts.
“We are fighting till the end. We are Chelsea, we are a big club,” Willian said on BT Sport 1.
He added: “We had a great game, we had possession, we created a lot of chances, scored three goals.”
Eden Hazard, who delivered another fine personal display, said Chelsea’s response to their weekend setback was ideal.
“We had a bad game against West Ham,” said the Belgian. “We did pretty well today, scored three goals. Now let’s move forward. We will fight till the end.”
Chelsea’s first attempt on target resulted in the opening goal, with Eden Hazard sparking the move which broke the deadlock.
Hazard’s flick set Willian free in a central position just outside the penalty area and t he Brazilian’s diagonal pass was clipped neatly home by Bakayoko from six yards, with defender Chris Lowe’s desperate bid to block the ball on the goalline in vain.
Huddersfield had chased and harried throughout the first half but had also enjoyed decent spells of possession without carv- ing out any clear-cut chances.
The home side’s best moment before the break came early on when a sweeping move involving skipper Tommy Smith, Elias Kachunga and Aaron Mooy saw the latter’s volley from the edge of the box blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Chelsea had been well marshalled for most of the first period. Ngolo Kante blazed a shot over in the 38th minute and Bakayoko directed Willian’s cross wide off his shoulder.
But Chelsea doubled their lead in the 43rd minute. Azpilicueta’s cross-field pass picked out Marcos Alonso wide on the left and the Spaniard’s superb cross evaded Lowe at the far post and was headed home by Willian.
Town boss Wagner sent on fresh legs for the second half as Dean Whitehead replaced Jonathan Hogg, but it made little difference.
Chelsea extended their lead in the 50th minute thanks to another assist from Willian and more good work from Alonso.
Willian touched Alonso’s cross back into the path of Pedro on the edge of the area and the latter crashed a right-footed shot into the top corner.
Jonas Lossl denied Hazard at the near post after the Belgian had snaked his way into the area before Town eased the relentless pressure with a rare foray on goal themselves when Tom Ince’s effort was headed clear of goal by Andreas Christensen.
Depoitre, a late replacement for Steve Mounie, headed brilliantly home in time added on from fellow substitute Florent Hadergjonaj’s excellent cross.