Chelsea have the look of champions, don’t they? The job Conte has done at Stamford Bridge since taking over in the summer has been remarkable. Not many can mount such success in the Premier League and considering that it is Conte’s first ever season as a manager outside Italy, no word is enough to describe his stewardship.
Chelsea stretched their winning run to 11 in the Premier League with a narrow but convincing 1-0 win against Crystal Palace and look to be coasting to the title already.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Costa, the hero once again
Chelsea fans will be grateful to Diego Costa once again as his goal proved to be the difference between Chelsea and the opposition. Costa is certainly not a popular guy in football but he is proving to be the hero for Chelsea week in week out.
Once again, Chelsea won the game thanks to his brilliantly headed goal. The Spaniard has been decisive throughout the season and bagged his 13th goal of the season with his strike against Palace. The only let-down was he picked up his 5th yellow and will be suspended for the Boxing Day clash against Bournemouth.
Time to go, Pardew!
It is shocking to see Alan Pardew still being in charge at Selhurst Park. Back-to-back home defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea have left Palace three points above the bottom three and they could be dragged further into danger by the end of the weekend.
In the calendar year of 2016, the Eagles have won just six games. Yes, you heard it right. Pardew could only manage six wins in 2016 and is still somehow present in the dugout. After signing players like Townsend and Benteke for mega-money deals, Pardew has no excuse for such miserable showings.
Matic proves a point
Conte’s decision to start Nemanja Matic in midfield ahead of Cesc Fabregas was a big decision but Matic showed it once again why he is the first-choice for Conte ahead of Fabregas. Even though Cesc scored the only goal for Chelsea in their win against Sunderland, Matic’s physical presence did the trick against Crystal Palace who had big midfielders like McArthur and Ledley.
Matic made as many as 3 tackles and 4 clearances during the game, something Fabregas would not be capable of. Fabregas did impress after coming on from the bench for Willian but played in more of an attacking role.
