There was no doubting who would be the winners in Monday Night Football. One sided for most of the game, in favour of the home side Chelsea. The away side, West Brom, look a team defeated and ready for relegation.
The battle for next years Champion League spots, has been one of the tightest battles this season. Besides first and second place, the other European places have shifted from team to team – throughout the 2017/2018 campaign.
Chelsea sat in third place for a large part of the campaign – but saw them lose their place to Liverpool on few occasions, and after back-to-back losses against Bournemouth at home, and Watford away, Chelsea lost third place completely to Liverpool.
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FT:#CFC 3 - 0 #WBA
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) February 12, 2018
Chelsea return to the top four thanks toEden Hazard's brace and a goal from Victor Moses.
West Brom remain seven points from safety.
'Crisis? What crisis?' - @Chris_Sutton73#CHEWBA 👇📻 https://t.co/wAhN0Kj4kZ pic.twitter.com/BqcgvpMKZq
After these two surprised results, where the Stamford Bridge side conceding a mile high of seven goals, Antonio Conte’s managerial career – came under intense scrutiny. The bookies and plenty of reliable tabloids believe the Italian is next to face the axe, and take his leave from the Blues.
However, the Italian’s smile and celebrations graced the sideline once again – to ensure their previous Monday Night Football fixture was not his last. Hazard and his team around him, protected their manager from any idea of him having to be sacked.
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A recap of Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over West Brom
Chelsea exhausted any notion, Alan Pardew’s side would leave Stamford Bridge with three points, or even one. Led by world-class winger, Eden Hazard – Chelsea were almost impossible to stop.
Rise the star – rises the team around him. Certainly a feature we’ve witnessed the entire campaign to date. When Hazard is poor – Chelsea is poor. If Hazard runs riot – Chelsea break down any opposition.
Scoring a brace in the fixture, proves just how well the Belgian did on the night. The home side recording 20 shots at goal, demonstrates how they could have seen the game out in the early stages.
West Brom made noise, but were silence by the return of Andreas Christensen, who eliminated any of West Brom’s near scares. A clean sheet, emphasises the importance of this young Danish centre back.
Victor Moses’ goal was the final blow before the bell rang – for the 90 minutes to conclude. It was a proper Chelsea performance. And just what the manager needed.
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What next for Conte and the Blues
Conte has a mammoth fixture in their Champions League, Round of 16 clash – where they face La Liga special, Barcelona. This follows after their FA Cup, fifth round match against, Hull City.
Climbing nimbly up back into fourth place – Chelsea placed in the same zone as the others, where nobody can afford a loss.
They are a point ahead of Tottenham (5th place), a point behind Liverpool (3rd place), and two points behind, Man United (2nd place). Leaving no room for error. Once they return to league action, they have two fixtures, directly involving a top-of-the-table battle and the leaders.
It’s a great time for Conte to come up against these powerhouses, any victories here sees them climb and others drop out. It’s definitely the right time to get their rivals, playing for the same spot.