We’re out of the title race, says Conte

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte said his side were no longer in the Premier League title race after they lost 1-0 to West Ham United yesterday, leaving the champions 11 points adrift of runaway leaders Manchester City.

Marko Arnautovic scored his first goal since he joined West Ham in July after swapping passes with Manuel Lanzini on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area and curling a low shot beyond Thibaut Courtois in the sixth minute of the London derby.

Conte brought on the attack-minded Pedro, Victor Moses and Willian as second-half substitutes but Chelsea failed to break down a West Ham defence that looks much sturdier under new manager David Moyes.

“To lose four games in 16 games, it means you are not in the title race,” Conte said. “My experience of this is if you want to stay in the race for the title, in the first part of the season you can lose once or twice.”

Particularly galling for Conte was the fact that three of the four defeats have come against clubs which would normally be considered relatively easy opposition for Chelsea — Burnley on the opening day of the season, Crystal Palace and now West Ham. Chelsea also lost at home to Manchester City.

The champions were left to rue some poor finishing against West Ham in the closing stages as Alvaro Morata blazed wide when he finally found some space and Eden Hazard wasted a chance moments later.

Chelsea struggled for much of the match to find a way through a West Ham defence that did not concede a goal for the first time since September.

West Ham manager Moyes praised his side for a “completely disciplined, organised performance” which had revolved around giving Chelsea little room on the ball and catching them on the break through Arnautovic and Michail Antonio.

“The game plan we set up worked, everything we went about we knew how to engage, and we were very close at Manchester City as well,” he said, referring to last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to the leaders.

Despite the improvement since Moyes replaced Slaven Bilic as coach in November, West Ham remain in the relegation zone.

Spurs hit five past Stoke

Tottenham Hotspur emerged from their recent slump to demolish Stoke City 5-1 at Wembley yesterday.

One win in five games had dropped Tottenham out of the title race, and out of the top four, but once Ryan Shawcross’s firsthalf own goal had given them the lead they proved unstoppable.

Son Heung-min slotted in Tottenham’s second after 53 minutes and Harry Kane, guilty of missing an earlier sitter just before the break, made it 3-0 a minute later before side-footing his second in the 65th minute to take his tally to 18 in all competitions this season.

Christian Eriksen weighed in with Tottenham’s fifth, following a Son pass, before Shawcross managed to score at the right end to give Stoke a consolation goal.

Tottenham are the first English club to beat a top-flight opponent by a four-goal margin four times in succession, having won the last three meetings 4-0. — See Page 24 for other results