Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THEY THINK IT’S ALL OVER
Conte taunts Spurs as Blues close in on title
JUBILANT CHELSEA chief Antonio Conte taunted Tottenham last night claiming: “We have all the answers.”
Conte was delighted his stars responded to Spurs lunchtime destruction of Watford with their own comprehensive 3-1 victory at Bournemouth to maintain a seven-point lead over their London rivals.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men turned the screw to leave Chelsea no room for error on the South Coast.
But after another Eden Hazard masterclass – and another stunning goal – Conte needn’t have worried as his leaders kept their eye on the big prize.
And if Spurs keep winning, Chelsea now need five wins in their last seven games to be crowned Premier League kings in the Italian’s first season in charge.
An own goal by Adam Smith and a delicious late free-kick by Marcos Alonso had Conte (right) purring at the professionalism of his side – and insisting they’ll handle whatever nearest challengers Tottenham throw at them.
“I’m satisfied because it wasn’t easy to play this game after the win for Tottenham – but our answer was very good,” said Conte.
“We started the game well, with great concentration and focus, but it was a pity we conceded a goal and we suffered a bit.
“But in the second half we managed the game very well and scored another goal against a really good team with good organisation and a good coach, so we must be pleased.
“It’s normal to feel pressure when you play after your opponent, especially if you see them very close, it can bring a bit of pressure, but it’s normal.
“But I’m very happy to face this type of situation and play with only a four-point gap.
“I like the pressure, I don’t see it. I put it on myself because it brings the best out of yourself.”
Conte took a dig at Spurs by claiming his stars deserve credit for coming from 10th place last season to lead the table on the run in.
“For sure, Tottenham have great desire to win the title. We must have the same desire. It means they are a really good team, as they fought last year as well.
“But we were 10th place and now we are fighting for the title. Tottenham is stronger than last season and added players. It is important to understand this and to compare the teams in the same way.”
But, despite closing in on the title with seven games to go, Conte insists he cannot smell victory quite yet.
“No, I don’t smell it yet. There are seven games to go. We know this will not be easy, but we will go game by game.
“After a defeat by Palace, we played City and we could have dropped points. We didn’t.
“Again, we could have dropped points today, but we won both games.”
Cherries boss Eddie Howe was delighted with his players, even though they lost.
“I thought it was a tight game today, we were well in it,” he said. “It doesn’t help going 2-0 down and it took a worldie free-kick to win the game.
“I have to compliment Chelsea, they’re an outstanding team and their system works very well for them.
“But I compliment my boys as well because they played very well. In the end, Chelsea were too strong.
“I’m not feeling anything other than that we need to win some more games.
“What we’ve historically done is always try to win and that’s the same aim – no matter how many points you have and how many games are left.”