CRANKY CONTE
Chelsea boss watches win from stands after turning air blue
ANTONIO CONTE lost it. Thankfully for the Chelsea manager, his players didn’t. The thought of injustice was too much for Conte, who was sent off for an incensed tirade at fourth official Lee Mason after his team were denied a corner.
But the real injustice would have been if Chelsea had left Stamford Bridge last night with anything other than three points.
In the end, Antonio Rudiger’s first Premier League goal for the club was enough to secure a deserved victory for Chelsea.
But it could easily have been seven or eight as the champions dominated from start to finish.
Needless to say, Conte will wince when he sees replays of his diatribe at Mason after a testing week in west London.
Following Saturday’s draw at Liverpool and a 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan a week ago, Conte rang the changes. Four in total: Rudiger, Pedro, Willian and Cesc Fabregas coming in, Eden Hazard the most notable face dropping out.
On his return to Stamford Bridge, former Chelsea assistant Paul Clement selected an unchanged side, with Tammy Abraham unavailable under the terms of his loan agreement from Chelsea.
Clement had no room for sentiment. His team’s sorry run of one win in ten league games had put his job in jeopardy.
In the moments before kick-off, however, thoughts were with another former Chelsea coach, Dermot Drummy, who passed away this week. A rapturous minute’s applause accompanied an emotional video montage of the former Crawley Town manager’s time with the Blues.
Chelsea managed 11 shots in the first half. Swansea nil. Yet it was goalless at the break.
You could sense the anxiety levels increase with every squandered opportunity. In contrast, you saw Swansea’s confidence grow with every missed chance against them.
In the 42nd minute, after Willian’s cross ricocheted off Alfie Mawson, the frustration got too much for Conte.
Video replays showed the referee was wrong to award a goal-kick but that does not excuse Conte howling in the face of Mason, who called over Neil Swarbrick.
The referee dismissed the Italian, who took up a position behind the dug-out as assistant Angelo Alessio took over.
You would imagine Conte’s reaction would not have been so enraged if his team had taken just one of the hatful of chances they created. Willian set the tone with a wicked free-kick that flew inches wide of Lukasz Fabianski’s far post in the tenth minute.
Pedro and Alvaro Morata were both denied by the Polish keeper before Marcos Alonso cannoned a free header narrowly wide.
Boos rang round Stamford Bridge at half-time. Swarbrick and Mason were the target of their angst, but the home fans would have been far from impressed with their team’s finishing during the opening 45 minutes. The champions should have been home and hosed by half-time.
But if you think Conte was having a bad day, spare a thought for Swansea midfielder Renato Sanches, who was substituted at half-time, following a torrid first half that saw him complete 65 per cent of his passes.
Leroy Fer replaced him but Chelsea continued to dominate in search of an opener, Pedro blazing over after brilliant wing play from Willian.
Finally, though, Chelsea broke the deadlock. The way the game was going, it was going to take a moment of magic or a slice of luck to make the breakthrough.
They got the latter: N’Golo Kante’s drive from the edge of the area took a wicked deflection off Wilfried Bony into Rudiger’s path and the defender had the simplest of tasks to nod home.
Relief. Somewhere inside Stamford Bridge, their manager was puffing out his cheeks.
He may have even cracked a smile three minutes later had Mawson not produced a brilliant block to deny Alonso as Chelsea tried to put the game to bed.
Morata then missed two more golden chances, one thanks to a brilliant save from Fabianski, the other a result of woeful finishing.
Conte was given some welcome news, however, when Victor Moses was introduced in the 75th minute for his first appearance since October after recovering from a hamstring problem. They have missed his dynamism on the right flank.
Hazard and Danny Drinkwater were also brought into the fray late on as Chelsea held on for a
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Courtois; Cahill, Christensen, Rudiger; Zappacosta (Moses 75), Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Willian (Drinkwater 81), Morata, Pedro (Hazard 81). Subs not used: Caballero, Bakayoko, Azpilicueta, Ampadu. Booked: Morata. SWANSEA (4-3-1-2): Fabianski; Naughton, Van der Hoorn, Mawson, Olsson; Ki, Mesa (McBurnie 65), Carroll; Sanches (Fer 45); Bony, Ayew. Subs not used: Nordfeldt, Dyer, Routledge, Clucas, Rangel. Booked: None. Man of the match: N’Golo Kante. Referee: Neil Swarbrick. Attendance: 41,365.