Chelsea take giant leap towards title as Middlesbrough are relegated

 

After Tottenham slipped up at West Ham, Chelsea knew that victory was mandatory on Monday night against Middlesbrough as they aimed to take a giant leap towards their fifth Premier League title. 

 

It may have taken until the midway point of the first half for the deadlock to be broken, but there was only really going to be one man to open the scoring for the Blues. Diego Costa, who after a barren run has netted three times in his last two outings at Stamford Bridge, has now scored at least 20 league goals in three of the last four seasons, achieving the feat in two of three campaigns for Chelsea and in his final season for Atletico Madrid. No player has scored the first goal in more Premier League games this season than Costa (7) as the Spaniard found himself in ample space to tuck the ball between Brad Guzan’s legs from six yards to put Chelsea on the front foot.

 

Chelsea doubled their advantage 10 minutes late as Cesar Azpilicueta picked out Marcos Alonso on the left. The Spaniard rifled in an effort that rebounded off Guzan and into the back of the net as Chelsea effectively sealed Middlesbrough’s fate. Nemanja Matic made it three for the Blues midway through the second half after he fired in his first top-flight goal of the season as Cesc Fabregas registered his 10th assist of the season becoming the first player to reach double figures for assists in six separate Premier League campaigns. 

 

Middlesbrough were made to pay for their decision to sit back and gift Fabregas the necessary space to pull the strings in the middle of the park. On a day where N’Golo Kante was named FWA player of the year for 2017, the Frenchman was left out of the squad due to injury, allowing his Spanish teammate to control proceedings in the middle of the park. In a match the Middlesbrough needed at least a point in to retain a semblance of hope of staying up, rather than apply pressure on Fabregas to deny him the time on the ball to carve teams open, they sat back, presumably to minimise the opportunities the attackers would have to hit the back of the net. 

 

However, a team of Chelsea’s quality was always going to find a way past a Boro backline that after tonight had kept one clean sheet in their last seven away league games. The hosts routinely looked to expose the space left by right-back Fabio and with Adama Traore not carrying out his defensive duties, Eden Hazard and Alonso were able to double up on Fabio to devastating effect. Hazard may have endured one of his more reserved outings, but by drifting infield and dragging Fabio out of position, Alonso was able to provide the width and exploit the space left behind to help put the Boro defence to the sword. 

 

 

That was largely in part due to Fabregas’ influence in the middle of the park, with the 30-year-old having more touches (130) than any other player on the night, while he played the most passes (114) and key passes (6) in the 3-0 win. To put that into context, Middlesbrough as a team created just one chance as their relegation was confirmed with the slightest of whimpers. The sacking of Aitor Karanka may have been somewhat necessary considering Boro’s dire Premier League form, but under him, the club were at least solid at the back. The widely pragmatic approach may not have won Middlesbrough many admirers of note, but they rarely conceded either. Steve Agnew struggled to maintain the defensive discipline and it was little shock to see their relegation confirmed on Monday night as Chelsea secured their 300th home Premier League win, becoming the third team after Manchester United and Arsenal to reach the milestone. 

 

Victory at West Brom under the Friday night lights now secures Chelsea the Premier League title and against a Baggies outfit that struggled for consistency after reaching the 40-point mark earlier in the season, you wouldn’t bet against Antonio Conte’s earning the three points at Hawthorns and with it, their first trophy under the Italian.

 

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Chelsea take giant leap towards title as Middlesbrough are relegated