The ManicaPost
IT appears that the Chelsea boss is just as meticulous with his personal hygiene as he is with his team’s tactics.
The Italian seems a pleasant enough chap in his Press conferences, but he does not appear to enjoy shaking hands as much as his friendly nature suggests.
Prior to Monday’s match, he went over to the West Ham bench to greet the Hammers backroom staff – but he was taking no chances of catching anything from them when he got back to his own dugout.
He immediately found a water bottle and set about washing all that good will away from his palm.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa fired Chelsea 10 points clear at the top of the table with a 2-1 victory at West Ham on Monday.
A quick counter-attack led to the Belgian opening the scoring on 25 minutes.
And the striker’s header from Cesc Fabregas’ corner five minutes after the restart doubled the advantage and sealed the victory.
Despite Manuel Lanzini pulling one back in the closing stages, the Stamford Bridge men look unstoppable in their march towards claiming the Premier League title.
Meanwhile, Slaven Bilic’s side are firmly rooted in midtable after this result, eight clear of the drop zone.
Although the clash proved not to be as lively as had been expected beforehand, there were still plenty of talking points from game.
And here’s three things that we learnt from Chelsea’s 2-1 win at West Ham:
Don’t fear the long ball
With Andy Carroll returning to the West Ham starting eleven it may have been the hosts who were expected to be direct, but Chelsea showed they are just as happy to do so.
In fact, straight from kick off they gave an example of how happy they were to mix it up with a long ball or two.
David Luiz collected the play at centre-half and immediately launched a quarter-back style pass over the top for Pedro to chase, but luckily for the trailing Winston Reid it just skidded away and out of the Spaniard’s reach.
Luiz was at it again later in the half as he fed Diego Costa in similar fashion.
But it’s not only the centre-half who is capable of the potential killer ball. Cesc Fabregas also dropped one right onto the money for Pedro too before the break.
The table toppers are more than capable of silky, quick and stylish football, but it’s refreshing to see a foreign manager not afraid to go a bit more traditionally British.
However, after a relative trouble-free two months, one West Ham fan did his best to undo the good work carried out by the east London side.
Following Eden Hazard’s opener, the supporter leapt over the hoardings onto the pitch to confront the celebrating Blues star – but luckily security were quickly on hand to stop any physical interaction, with only obscenities managing to be directed at the goalscorer.
West Ham lacking punch-up front
In Robert Snodgrass, West Ham possess one of the best crossers of the ball in the division this season.
And with Carroll up top, that should be enough to cause any team danger – but not Antonio Conte’s men.
Each and every time an attempt was made, the Chelsea defence of Cesar Azpilicueta, Luiz and Gary Cahill were more than a match.
And without any real pace in their attack, it was a rather comfortable task for the top boys’ defence, although Conte will not be happy his side allowed Manuel Lanzini to pull one back in the dying seconds.
Pedro is well and truly at home
It took him a while to settle at Stamford Bridge, but the former Barcelona man is looking the business under Antonio Conte this season.
Not only has he bagged 11 goals for his side, but his assists are proving just as vital. He has either scored or assisted in three consecutive league games now for the Blues.
And that purple patch is the first time he has achieved such a run since he got four in four for Barcelona back in August 2013.
To add extra gloss to his form, this was his first assist away from home in the top-flight in the current campaign too. – THE SUN.
