Chelsea crush Pulis
West Brom boss facing up to sack after Conte’s side run riot
ALL THE components that would see Tony Pulis sacked by West Bromwich Albion arrived in a desolate defeat by Chelsea that left the manager of a thousand games wearing a thousand-yard stare.
When Eden Hazard added a fourth Chelsea goal in the 63rd minute, Pulis’s face read like he knows his fate. It was the moment that prompted an exodus by home fans and further calls for Pulis to go.
The most damning element to this 4-0 loss, however, was the players, who seemingly conceded defeat as soon as Chelsea went ahead in the first half. The second period felt much like a practice game, with West Brom simply going through the motions rather than putting up a fight for their beleaguered boss.
If, as expected, this becomes Pulis’s last match in charge it would be a sorry end for a man who guided West Brom to 10th last term and in parts brought entertaining football in his near three-year reign. But with Guochuan Lai, West Brom’s owner, watching in the stands beside chairman John Williams, the writing looks to be on the wall.
West Brom’s run extended to two wins from 21 Premier League games and, though they are not yet in the relegation zone, kept afloat by a point, they will fall below the dreaded dotted line should West Ham beat Watford at Vicarage Road today.
For Antonio Conte, no stranger to speculation himself, this was a victory that had travelling fans singing his name repeatedly.
A fourth Premier League win in a row shows the Italian still has whatever it was that took Chelsea to last season’s title and, though a successful defence may be out of reach, they are perhaps the bestequipped team to challenge Manchester City.
But the focus will all be on Pulis, whose post-match press conference sounded like a farewell speech. He said: ‘The big thing is this is not about me, it’s not about the chairman, the owners or anything else. It’s about the football club and what is the right decision for the football club.’
Asked if the right decision would be for him to be relieved of his duties, Pulis said: ‘I’ve been in the game long enough to know if you get bad runs that’s what happens. I met with the Chinese owners last night. They are wonderful people but I know as much as anyone you have to get results.
‘John came into the dressing room as he always does. What we spoke about is private and he’s a good man. We’ll have to see what happens.’
Pulis’s programme notes had read almost like a pitch for his next job with a detailed defence of his West Brom tenure and in the opening exchanges his team showed energy to match. Salomon Rondon even headed past Thibaut Courtois but the flag was up for offside.
But Chelsea sucked the life from West Brom by opening the scoring in the 17th minute. Hazard twisted free of Gareth Barry and struck a potent shot that swirled in the air and forced Ben Foster to parry. Alvaro Morata made converting the rebound look easier than it was for his eighth Premier League goal of the campaign.
Instead of celebrating, Hazard complained to referee Jonathan Moss about a hefty earlier challenge from Barry that left him on the floor and, still riled moments later, the Belgian charged in late on Grzegorz Krychowiak to earn a clear booking.
Six minutes later he was charging through West Brom’s defence. Cesc Fabregas had fired a pass up to Morata, who flicked the ball on so Hazard was in. Foster was hasty in coming out and Hazard rounded to convert.
That brought the first sounds of dissent from home fans and in the 38th minute they grew louder when West Brom conceded in an area Pulis can usually depend on.
Fabregas had a free-kick by the area and chipped the ball to the far post where Marcos Alonso was waiting unmarked to volley in from a tight angle. The lack of defensive rigour was disquieting.
At half-time Pulis sent on Claudio Yacob, who may not have seemed the most obvious catalyst for a comeback but did engender a positive reaction from the crowd given his years of service. But what followed was a procession where the only question was how many Conte’s team would score.
In the 63rd minute the fourth arrived and again the simplicity tore away at Pulis’s reputation for being hard to break down. Fabregas chipped over the top to Hazard, who collected, drifted inside Ahmed Hegazi and finished in the corner.
That sparked a steady flow of people leaving and, at the final whistle, those who had stayed grew angry in their chants for ‘Pulis out’. There would not be any surprise to see the call heeded.