Guardian:
Chelsea stroll to within a game’s reach of title and send Middlesbrough down
Chelsea 3 - 0 Middlesbrough
Daniel Taylor at Stamford Bridge
It was a rare to have a night when two teams had such contrasting stories at the final whistle. For Chelsea, the mathematics are simple now and surely nobody can think those celebrations at the end, with Antonio Conte on the pitch to embrace each of his players, were premature. His side will be champions with one more win and they looked absolutely determined to play in that manner against a Middlesbrough team that quietly drops into the Championship, relegated after only one season back in the top division.
If everything goes according to plan, Chelsea can wrap things up when they play at West Bromwich Albion on Friday. Alternatively, it could possibly stretch to their next home game against Watford the following Monday – if, that is, Tottenham Hotspur can beat Manchester United the previous day. All that is certain, for now, is that Chelsea have a seven-point lead with three games to go and their supporters can probably be forgiven for going through their victory songs. “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again,” was one late chorus from the Matthew Harding Stand.
They can afford to gloat because the chances of Conte’s side unravelling from this position are somewhere between minimal and non-existent. They will be deserving champions and their latest victory was typical of the high-energy domination that has brought them to this happiness. Chelsea did not have a single period of the match when they lost control. They won with something to spare and, if anything, it was a surprise they did not treat themselves to even more goals.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, looked what they are: a team that has drifted aimlessly towards relegation, with 26 goals from 36 games. This was the 17th time this season they have failed to score in the league. They have not won at Stamford Bridge since Jack Charlton was manager in 1975 and that 42-year run was never likely to be threatened bearing in mind they have not beaten a single side from the top half of the league all season. Middlesbrough’s solitary away win came at Sunderland in August and they were obliging opponents for a team with Chelsea’s haughty ambitions.
The champions-elect certainly did not miss N’Golo Kanté, absent with a thigh injury on the day he was name the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year to go with the award he has already received from the Professional Footballers’ Association. Cesc Fàbregas fitted seamlessly into midfield, passing the ball with wonderful elegance, setting up two of the goals and delivering a man-of-the-match performance. On this evidence, Kanté deserves the season’s individual honours if he has kept this man out of the side.
It was a night when Diego Costa, with the opening goal, scored for the 20th time in the league this season, equalling his best-ever total for Chelsea. Eden Hazard shimmered with menace. Marcos Alonso and Pedro skimmed shots against the crossbar and Chelsea now have 84 points, three more than Leicester managed when they won the league last year and, incredibly, 36 higher than the team from Stamford Bridge had managed at the corresponding stage last season. Even at 3-0, Conte was still stalking the touchline, screaming orders and reminding us that the Italians are masters of the hand gesture. His team have won 15 out of their 17 home league games and they have a manager who simply refuses to allow complacency to creep in.
More than anything, Chelsea looked as though they were enjoying themselves. They played like a side in a hurry and it was from their first meaningful attack, after barely 70 seconds, that Alonso’s shot ricocheted off Brad Guzan, the Middlesbrough goalkeeper, to flash against the woodwork. The tone had been set and from that moment it was near-unremitting pressure on the visitors’ goal.
Guzan had a difficult night but, in fairness, he was not alone when it came to Steve Agnew’s players. Fábio da Silva, Middlesbrough’s Brazilian right-back, had let Alonso run past him for the second goal and the same defender was also partly to blame when Costa opened the scoring 11 minutes earlier. Fàbregas had clipped the ball into the penalty area and Fábio, stretching, inadvertently turned it into Costa’s path, leaving the striker with the chance to slide his shot through Guzan’s legs.
By that stage Alonso had flashing a shot across the goalmouth with his second attempt of the first half. His next effort was also going wide but Guzan had come off his goal-line. The ball struck the inside of the goalkeeper’s leg and flew into the net.
The rest of the night for Middlesbrough was an exercise in damage limitation but it would be harsh to say they demonstrated why they had won only once in their previous 18 league games since Christmas. The truth is not many sides could cope when Chelsea are playing with this drive and motivation, when Fàbregas is passing the ball with such distinction and every single player in blue is playing at the point of maximum expression.
They began the second half exactly where they had left off: looking for more goals. There was only one more, however, and it arrived in the 65th minute. Fàbregas, again, played the decisive pass. Nemanja Matic controlled the ball on his chest, spun away from the nearest defender and lashed in a right-foot shot. Chelsea had played like champions and Conte was off on another of his victory runs.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea 3 Middlesbrough 0: Champions-elect outclass and relegate Steve Agnew's side
Jason Burt
Chelsea do not just have one hand on the Premier League trophy but those blue ribbons are being tied and the engraver has sharpened his tool ready for the calligraphy.
It is over. Three more points from the three final league games is all it will (mathematically) take and they will hope and expect to collect them away to West Bromwich Albion this Friday.
They can bag it against the Baggies and it will be a richly deserved title, a fourth in 12 years and only a fifth in the club’s 112-year history.
Before the victory parade came the procession and a carnival atmosphere with John Terry even afforded a run-out, on as a late substitute for the superb David Luiz, for his 715th appearance, and to a standing ovation in what is his last season.
Chelsea were utterly dominant. The score-line could have been multiplied as Middlesbrough provided no barrier. They were swept aside by the excellence of Antonio Conte’s side, orchestrated by the outstanding Cesc Fabregas, and, with it, their relegation back to the Championship, after just one season in the top-flight, was inevitably and sadly confirmed in front of their raucously defiant fans.
At the end Conte applauded them also having turned and accepted the constant chanting of his name from the home supporters. It will be a remarkable achievement by the Italian in his first season in English football – he did not even speak the language a year ago – and he has lifted Chelsea on and off the pitch from 10th place to champions, or almost-champions, again. They already have 34 more points than last season. Hopefully Conte will now remain despite the continued interest from Inter Milan, to build, to defend this title and to go for it in the Champions League. That is the expectation.
But then there was a general air of expectancy at Stamford Bridge. Roman Abramovich was in attendance as was Carlo Ancelotti, the last Chelsea manager – and the first Italian – to win the league and who also completed a double with the FA Cup, a feat Conte, his friend - the pair worked together at Juventus when the latter was captain - can match this season.
There was never any doubt that Chelsea would win this. It was only ever a question of how many goals they would score and this was a performance with a title-winning swagger. The absence of N’Golo Kante, with a slight muscle injury, on the day that he was chosen as the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year, allowed Fabregas to take centre stage and he accepted the invitation.
The midfielder created numerous chances and was involved in all three goals as he became the first player to claim 10 or more assists in the Premier League in six campaigns. Chelsea hit another milestone – a 300th Premier League home win, a total only surpassed by Manchester United (347) and Arsenal (306).
There was a relentlessness in which they preyed on Middlesbrough’s vulnerability and that again is the mark of champions. With Adama Traore and Fabio Da Silva down the visitors right Conte sensed the lack of discipline and attacked it. Inevitably it was where the first goal came from but there were chances before that with Marcos Alonso’s volley ricocheting up onto the cross-bar off goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s outstretched hand with just 71 seconds played.
That it took another 22 minutes for Chelsea to score was the only surprise with Middlesbrough unable to get close to their opponents with Fabregas, under no pressure, floating a cross into the penalty area. Fabio, at full stretch, got a touch but was unable to cut it out and Diego Costa simply cushioned the ball before poking it through Guzan’s legs for his 20th league goal in what is also expected to be his last season at the club before he moves to China.
Middlesbrough did not park the bus. In fact they even struggled to park the team coach, arriving late after a minor prang involving a car in the roads outside the stadium. But on the pitch they had to go for it. A point would only delay the inevitable. They needed to win and pledged to play “front-foot” football even if they ended up constantly rocked back on their heels.
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Independent:
Chelsea relegate Middlesbrough with a win of purring confidence that continues their canter towards the title
Chelsea 3 Middlesbrough 0
Goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic mean Chelsea can mathematically secure the title against West Brom on Friday night
Miguel Delaney
We haven’t yet had the confirmation, but this already felt like a celebration. A 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge means Chelsea go to West Brom on Friday knowing a win will mathematically secure the 2016-17 Premier League title, while Middlesbrough go back down to the Championship, this result having made their relegation mathematically certain.
The reality was that both sides played as if they already knew both prospects were mere formalities before the game, Chelsea and especially the supreme Cesc Fabregas with a purring confidence, Middlesbrough with the kind of relaxed openness that comes when you know your fate is sealed.
It set up an enjoyably open game, too, and one that had the joyful optimism of a carnival for the Stamford Bridge support.
Antonio Conte of course moved frantically around the touchline as if it was all on a knife-edge, and celebrated each goal as if they were last-minute winners, displaying the type of demanding management that meant Chelsea are on the brink of this title. He needn’t have worried this time. In front of him, his team were in total command, just as they have been in the title race since October.
Chelsea were clearly intent on putting on a show, a performance worthy of champions, making it much less important that PFA and FWA player of the year N’Golo Kante was out with a thigh problem.
Conte evidently didn’t intend on doing much defending either. His side went at Middlesbrough with a resounding attacking vigour and intensity probably not truly seen since the start of their 13-match winning run back in October.
And they really applied that vigour down the left, where Fabio and Adama Traore weren’t exactly offering the most stable defensive cover. It gave Hazard an awful lot of space, but also meant that Marcos Alonso could concentrate on his own attacking rather than defending.
He enjoyed it so much that he offered what might have been his best performance of the season, further and fittingly emphasising how the transformation of so many players has been so key to their impending title victory.
It was the Spanish wing-back that set the tone after just two minutes with a searing run, forcing Brad Guzan to supremely get a touch that just about got the ball bouncing up and onto the bar. Chelsea were soon pummelling Middlesbrough, and it was no surprise that they soon had the lead, nor was the identity of the scorer.
Diego Costa has his touch back, and on 23 minutes scored a goal so similar to the type of finish he was offering in that winning run, slotting the ball between the legs of Guzan after Fabio had failed to deal with a clipped Cesc Fabregas.
Back in the centre without Kante, the Spanish playmaker was running the game, and Chelsea were soon threatening to run riot. They had their second 11 minutes later, Alonso getting one of the most deserved goals of the season, as luck began to desert Middlesbrough in even more pronounced a manner.
The Chelsea number-three again got down the left in the manner that had been proving so ruinous to Steve Agnew’s side, again tried a shot from wide, but this time Guzan could only deflect it into his own net.
It was Cesar Azpilicueta who that time played a Fabregas-style ball to set up the goal, and he was evidently emboldened by making that kind of impression, going on try a speculative shot just after half-time.
That was the stage that the game - and the season - had reached. Chelsea were so comfortable that some of their players normally much less comfortable in front of goal were fancying their chances.
That’s not the type of thing you can say about Nemanja Matic given his latest screamer against Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup, and he followed it here with a different type of aesthetically pleasing goal on 64 minutes, even if it was again more about Fabregas.
The playmaker was once more the creator, offering the kind of instinctive but delightfully intricate one-touch outside-of-the-foot ball in the box that best comes off when you are on top of your game and barely have to think. Matic didn’t give the Middlesbrough defence much time to move, chesting the ball down before powering it past Guzan from close range.
Agnew had by then brought on former Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford for his first appearance in four weeks, and rather poignantly and pointedly, his first ever appearance at Stamford Bridge. He was still struggling to get much of the ball, as Conte’s team were so dominant.
Fabregas was more dominant than anybody, and manipulating the ball like no-one else on the pitch. It was marvellous to watch.
There were still even louder cheers to be heard, mind, like when John Terry was eventually introduced after 84 minutes to take captain’s armband. He is set to lift the Premier League trophy again, for the fifth time in total, for the perfect goodbye. This was yet another perfect win, of the exactly the type that has made Chelsea the excellent team winning this title.
There was no respite. So it was only a matter of time and the second goal arrived with Fabregas’s square pass collected by Cesar Azpilicueta who was again allowed to angle the ball back across the area with Alonso arriving to squeeze a volley from the tightest of angles that again went through Guzan’s legs.
Chelsea continued to push and just 39 seconds into the second-half Pedro pulled the trigger with his powerful right-foot shot from the area’s edge, from another Hazard delivery, clipping the top of the bar.
There was no let-up from Conte. He was constantly cajoling and coaching and reeling away in frustration as opportunities were not taken with Gary Cahill drawing back his foot and hammering a 30-yard drive that a stunned Guzan beat out before Fabregas’s half-volley took a heavy deflection and bounced inches wide with the goalkeeper wrong-footed. A third goal had to come and Nemanja Matic claimed it as he chested down Fabregas’s flick and struck a low shot – again through Guzan’s legs. A hat-trick of nutmegs. Chelsea were impressive with every player contributing or creating chances in an all-round display. It was the imperious performance of champions.
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Mail:
Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough: Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic take Antonio Conte's side to the brink of Premier League title as Boro go down
By Martin Samuel for the Daily Mail
Tony Pulis, the manager of West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea's next opponents, was at Stamford Bridge for this. What did he learn?
Probably, that the most he and his team can do on Friday night, is delay the return of the Premier League trophy to Chelsea by a few days, at best. They are unlikely to inflict permanent damage, to blow anything wide open, to turn the title on its head. Little they can do will give hope that there is to be a final twist.
The trip to West Brom is Chelsea's last away match of the season and Chelsea demonstrated against Middlesbrough what they can do to weak teams, at home. Rarely has a victory in these circumstances, at this stage in the season, been as comfortable.
Next Monday, Chelsea are scheduled to face Watford, who are not greatly better than Middlesbrough, at Stamford Bridge, followed by Sunderland on the final day of the season, who are even worse. As Chelsea now need one win, if it does not come on Friday, it is surely coming soon.
There were no nerves on Monday night, no tension, not even a ripple of uncertainty. The news that Middlesbrough had contrived to crash the team bus on the way in seemed to sum up the competence of the opposition.
Chelsea controlled the game from first to last and by the time Middlesbrough had a pop at goal, they were 3-0 down and as good as relegated.
All that was required was the formality of Craig Pawson's whistle at the end to confirm their return to the Championship after a single Premier League season. They offered little last night to suggest it was undeserved.
Chelsea were a different class, as expected, and Cesc Fabregas was on another level again. Middlesbrough have now fallen from the Premier League on four occasions, the epitome of a yo-yo club, joined on that number by Sunderland, Norwich and Crystal Palace.
West Brom will have more about them, make no mistake of that, and Pulis is a proud manager who will not wish to be seen to roll over.
But this is about Chelsea now. It would need a stumble of Devon Loch proportions for them not win the league from here and looks a matter of when, not if.
The opening goal, it was fair to say, had been coming since kick-off, the gulf between the teams enormous. Chelsea were effortlessly superior, simply a different grade as individuals and as a collective.
Middlesbrough do not have a forward with the potency of Diego Costa, a passer with the range of Fabregas, a forward as inventive as Eden Hazard. They didn't even need the newly-crowned Footballer of the Year and Players' Player of the Year, N'Golo Kante. He was out with a muscle injury.
Not that the finest defensive midfielder and athlete in the Premier League would have had much to do. There is a reason why Middlesbrough are where they are.
There is also a reason why Fabregas is the first player of the Premier League era to total assists in double figures across six seasons.
He may not always be what Antonio Conte wants in the heart of his midfield – in the tougher games he has preferred the belt and braces of Kante and Nemanja Matic – but unleashed on a night such as this he was quite exceptional.
Middlesbrough had no answer to his deliveries, right to left, designed to expose Fabio and Adama Traore as Middlesbrough's defensive weak link and doing just that.
Chelsea could have been ahead after two minutes, when Fabregas played the first in a series of defence-splitting passes, putting in Marcos Alonso on the left side.
Alonso hit his shot first time, into the pitch and off the bar. One of those nights? Hardly. Even Chelsea's fans had that swagger and confidence. They knew it was only a matter of time.
The same combination – Fabregas to Alonso – linked up after seven minutes, this time the left wing-back's cross flying low through the six-yard box.
Everyone wanted in on the act. Soon after, Fabregas had a go, the ball pulled back by Hazard for a shot that travelled just wide.
The ball always seemed to be zipping around the Middlesbrough area and in the 20th minute Hazard nutmegged Fabio – who always seemed to be involved but rarely positively – only for George Friend to run just enough interference to stop Costa putting the ball in at the far post.
The Chelsea man claimed a foul and had a point. Friend got none of the ball but plenty of the man.
Referee Craig Pawson ruled it was a fair contest, and soon after any injustice ceased to matter anyway.
It was a familiar route to goal, a clipped chip by Fabregas that was poorly dealt with by Fabio, allowing Costa to sneak in behind.
He killed the ball, and Middlesbrough, in that order – slipping the ball through the legs of the advancing Brad Guzan, his 24th goal of the season.
The next attack brought Chelsea's second and sealed Middlesbrough's fate. Again, a right to left ball caught Middlesbrough out – on this occasion from Cesar Azpilicueta.
Alonso has been superb for Conte this season, contributing six goals as well as steadfast defensive performances. He left Fabio, obviously, and struck a low shot that went in off Guzan.
There was some suggestion that it was off target without the deflection, but it would ne harsh to credit it as an own goal.
Middlesbrough looked sunk at two, and the third made certain of it. Another Fabregas pass rendered the Middlesbrough defence incapable and Matic was first to read it, shooting through Guzan's legs, by now a familiar path to success. It was his first Premier League goal in over a year.
How many more could Chelsea have had? At least five. Pedro skimmed the bar; Guzan twice saved well from Victor Moses; Fabregas, Alonso and Willian all had opportunities.
It was a party atmosphere, fans and players equally buoyant. Nobody here was in any doubt they were watching, or playing for, the champions. Conte pointed to his head, told his players to use their brains, to be calm. They responded with complete assuredness.
'We're top of the league,' crowed Chelsea's fans, 'We're going down,' responded Middlesbrough's to the same tune.
Lovely gallows humour, and impossible to deny. Middlesbrough could not have faced worse opponents for a game they had to win; Chelsea could not have hand-picked better, to smooth their path to the title.
Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Courtois 6.5; Cahill 7.5, Luiz 7 (Terry 84), Azpilicueta 7; Moses 7, Fabregas 8, Matic 7, Alonso 7.5; Pedro 7.5 (Chalobah 81), Costa 7.5, Hazard 7 (Willian 72)
Subs not used: Begovic, Zouma, Ake, Loftus-Cheek
Goals: Costa 23, Alonso 34, Matic 64
Manager: Antonio Conte 7.5
Middlesbrough (4-1-4-1): Guzan 5; Fabio 5, Chambers 6.5, Gibson 6.5, Friend 6; Clayton 6; Traore 5.5 (Bamford 57, 5), Forshaw 5.5 (Leadbitter 56, 5), De Roon 5.5, Downing 5.5; Negredo 6 (Gestede 82)
Subs not used: Konstantopoulos, Bernando, Barragan, Guedioura
Booked: Fabio, Bamford
Manager: Steve Agnew 6.5
Referee: Craig Pawson 6.5
Ratings by Sami Mokbel
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Express :
Chelsea 3 - Middlesbrough 0: Blues can win title on Friday as Boro suffer relegation
CESC FABREGAS may have struggled to hold down a starting place with Chelsea this season – but when the season reaches crunch time, that wise old Spanish brain is exactly what you need on the field.
By TONY BANKS
Chelsea stand just one win from their sixth league title this morning after as comprehensive a victory as they have managed all season.
That title – their second in three seasons – will come at the Hawthorns on Friday night if they beat West Brom.
But it was that wily old campaigner Fabregas, starting only his 11th league game all season, who carried them brilliantly through this nervous last stage of a gruelling campaign. The Spaniard, in majestic form all night, set up goals for Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic, with Marcos Alonso netting one in between.
Poor old Middlesbrough’s last gasp of Premier League life disappeared after just one season as they went down with Sunderland after this result – going out with a whimper.
Plans to ‘park the bus’ from Boro got off to the worst possible start last night. The team bus bumped into a people carrier on the Fulham Road, delaying their arrival at Stamford Bridge.
A blow for Chelsea boss Antonio Conte before the game came with the news that new FWA Player of the Year N’Golo Kante had failed to recover from a thigh injury and was ruled out, which meant Fabregas started.
Steve Agnew saw his Boro side come into the game having scored a paltry 26 goals all season, and with just one win since December 17.
Chelsea, of course, were at them straight from the start. No sympathy for any possible whiplash.
Fabregas found Alonso unmarked on the left and his volley was turned on to the underside of the bar by Boro keeper Brad Guzan, but it bounced out and away.
Another Alonso cross saw no one get a touch, and then David Luiz fired a free-kick over the bar, before Fabregas put his shot wide from ten yards.
A great challenge from George Friend stopped Costa netting from point-blank range, but the goal was coming.
And come it did – as once again Fabregas angled a ball in from the right – a tactic Conte had obviously been working on.
This time it was Costa just onside, and the Spaniard slipped his 21st goal of the season through the hapless Guzan’s legs.
It also meant that Fabregas had become the first player to register 10 assists in six different Premier League seasons. Boro could barely get a foot on the ball before Chelsea’s second arrived from yet another ball from the right exposing them at the far post.
This time it was Cesar Azpilicueta playing the Fabregas role and there was Alonso all alone.
Guzan could only help his 34th-minute shot in at the near post. Alonso then saw his free-kick deflected just over the bar as Chelsea dominated. Boro had barely had time to consult their insurance documents.
The second half had barely started before Pedro found himself free and clipped the bar with his drive. Then Azpilicueta fired one just over.
Alonso’s cross-shot somehow stayed put once again, but the amount of room the Chelsea wing-back was getting on that flank spelled further problems for Boro.
Gary Cahill saw his piledriver kept out by an overworked Guzan, and then the centre- back put his header just wide.
The third came as once again a horribly overworked Boro defence failed to clear. Fabregas, once again the man in the right place, dinked a lovely little cross with his right foot and Matic controlled on his chest, swivelled and fired under Guzan.
Had there been any hope for Agnew’s side, who had not had a shot until then, that was the moment it was well and truly snuffed out.
In truth, it had been over the moment the first goal went in. The Championship, which they struggled so hard to get out of for seven long years, will see them back again next season.
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Mirror:
Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough: Blues close in on title as Boro are relegated - 5 things we learned
Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic were on target as the champions-elect ran riot at Stamford Bridge to go seven points clear at the top
BY JOHN CROSS
Antonio Conte is just one win away from clinching the Premier League title after condemning Middlesbrough to relegation.
Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic were on target as the champions-elect ran riot at Stamford Bridge to go seven points clear at the top.
Cesc Fabregas was outstanding for Chelsea, providing two assists which took him to 11 for the season and his recent form has helped push Conte’s men over the line.
It finished off a sorry season for Boro who went down with two games to go without so much as a fight as they were hopelessly outclassed.
Chelsea now just need one win to clinch the title and could wrap it up as early as Friday when they go to West Brom.
1. Chelsea look just champion
They are now just one win away from being crowned champions and this magnificent Chelsea team deserve every bit of praise coming their way.
They simply outclassed Middlesbrough, looking on a completely different level and that has been a familiar theme this season not just against the dead men but they have looked the best team by far.
Antonio Conte has built such a strong squad, a unified dressing room with their sights set on the Double, playing super football, entertaining, scoring good goals and also being trail blazers for the now ultra trendy three at the back formation.
One of the stars of Chelsea’s run-in has been Cesc Fabregas, he was fabulous against Middlesbrough, providing two assists making it 11 for the season.
You need big players when the pressure is on and Fabregas has epitomised the quality of champions.
2. It has been a car crash of a season for Boro
The Middlesbrough team bus did not arrive until an hour before kick-off after bumping into a car down the Fulham Road on the way to Chelsea.
That is rather in keeping with Boro’s season which has been a rocky road, a bumpy ride and a difficult journey in the top flight.
Aitor Karanka worked wonders to get them up, they were conservative in the transfer market, good in defence but really struggled to score the goals.
The switch to Steve Agnew has helped improve things but it has been too little, too late. Boro are a well run club under Steve Gibson but there must be a sense that they could have done more.
3. Diego Costa says his goodbyes
There’s always something going on with Diego Costa. After scoring his 20th goal of the Premier League season, he waved to the crowd maybe having some fun about his impending move to China this summer.
A huge pay day in the Chinese Super League beckons but we will miss Costa if he leaves English football.
He is pure box office. Always entertaining, prolific for Chelsea, loves to be the centre of attention and the sort of big character we love to hate.
Don’t go, Diego!
4. Brad Guzan does not like Stamford Bridge
The former Aston Villa keeper conceded eight at Stamford Bridge back in December 2012 so it’s fair to say this is not a happy hunting ground.
Believe it or not, it could have been 20-0 that day. I remember it well. In fact, Guzan was worse this time, letting all three goals through his legs. A hat trick of nutmegs.
Victor Valdes was a good signing for Boro but Guzan looked a real weak link, struggling to command his penalty box let alone make any meaningful saves.
Sadly, he is no longer up to the job, even as a No2.
5. N’Golo Kante deserves his latest award
The Chelsea midfielder was voted Player of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association but missed out at Stamford Bridge because of a muscle problem.
I voted for Kante last year when he helped win the title for Leicester and again the season as his role for Chelsea has been vital.
My broadsheet colleagues have cocked a snook at a red top writer choosing a defensive midfielder two years running before writing their eulogies about Eden Hazard.
Kante was the difference last year and has been worth two players to Chelsea this season.
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Star:
Chelsea 3 Middlesbrough 0: Blues close in on title as hapless Boro are relegated
CHELSEA were in cruise control as they made sure they can bag the title at the Baggies.
By David Woods
And there was not a hint of nerves as they set out to batter Boro and consign Steve Agnew’s side to an immediate return to the Championship.
Antonio Conte’s men went two up before the break thanks to goals from Diego Costa and Marcos Alonso.
For Costa it was his 21st goal of the season and Alonso has now weighed in with a useful half-dozen.
And to make it a night when Spain reigned, the first was created by Cesc Fabregas and the second by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Fabregas, for good measure, made the third for Nemanja Matic.
Boro, as expected, barely put up a fight.
Few teams have been able to handle Chelsea all season.
With less than a minute up the Blues could have been a goal ahead.
Fabregas’ raking ball found Alonso and his superbly-struck volley on the angle was somehow palmed onto the bar by Brad Guzan via the turf.
Eden Hazard teed up Fabregas perfectly in the centre of goal just inside the box in the 17th minute, but the Spaniard’s attempted sidefoot finish went a couple of yards wide.
Then three minutes later he looked to have put it on a plate for Costa, but somehow George Friend managed to do enough to stop the striker tucking the ball away from just a couple of feet out.
But he only needed two minutes more to score.
Somehow the Boro backline left him free at the far post.
Fabio was at fault, not being able to stretch far enough to stop Fabregas’ chipped pass from reaching the hitman.
Costa’s control was not quite perfect but his reaction after was, getting the ball from under his feet to stroke through the legs of Guzan.
As well as being a huge lift for the champions-elect it was a massive blow for Boro, who knew a defeat would ensure they joined North-East rivals Sunderland in dropping into the Championship.
In the 34th minute it was 2-0.
Again Boro were exposed in the Chelsea box and Azpilicueta picked out Alonso coming in from the left.
His shot from a tight angle went through Guzan’s legs and in off the keeper’s trailing arm.
A magnificent Fabregas crossfield ball picked out the run of Moses, but this time Guzan managed to keep the ball out with his legs.
Pedro almost punished Boro straight after the restart with a power drive which clipped the top of the bar.
Agnew’s men went through the motions, but they were outclassed in all areas.
Home fans often taunted “Are you watching Tottenham?” in a dig at their closest rivals.
You could safely bet they were not.
An all-Spanish move saw Fabregas pick out Pedro who played in Alonso on the overlap.
But Costa just could not stretch to turn in from close range.
Skipper Gary Cahill had a 25-yard belter beaten away by Guzan as Chelsea began to party with their fifth Premier League title within touching distance.
Fabregas was at it again in the 65th minute, teeing up Matic with a delightful dinked pass with the outside of his right foot which the Serbian chested down then drove through poor Guzan’s legs once again.
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Sun:
BYE BYE BORO Chelsea 3 Middlesbrough 0: Boro relegated after they are thumped by Antonio Conte’s champions-elect
Goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic consigns the Teessiders to Championship football next season
By John Hutchinson
IT was practically mission impossible for Middlesbrough – and so it proved tonight when they were thumped 3-0 away at Chelsea.
Boro needed to avoid defeat to give themselves any hope of avoiding the drop into the Championship – but the gulf in class was clear from the moment the whistle started the game.
Diego Costa put the hosts ahead in the 23rd minute following a spell of concerted pressure, and then raiding wing-back Marcos Alonso made it 2-0 just 11 minutes later.
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The days was to get a whole lot worse for Boro keeper Brad Guzan when he was nutmegged for the third time to concede again, Nemanja Matic coolly finishing after a flowing move.
Marcos Alonso then sped to the far post and squeezed the ball past Brad Guzan
Chelsea now move seven points clear of second-placed Tottenham, with just three games to play.
For Middlesbrough, they may start to plan their summer clearout now as they drop back into the Championship after a tumultuous season.
As if Middlesbrough’s night at Chelsea wasn’t scary enough – a minor prang in the team bus in the crowded streets of West London only made things worse.
Antonio Conte admits before kick off that he wasn’t allowed to watch Tottenham’s key defeat on Friday night as he was having dinner with his wife and daughter.
Just one minute and ten seconds into the match Marcos Alonso hits a firm volley and keeper Brad Guzan manages to parry it up onto the crossbar with a remarkable save.
Diego Costa puts Chelsea ahead in the 23rd minute and immediately the fans start singing ‘Are You Watching Tottenham?’.
The game was up for Middlesbrough, who will now play Championship football next season
Chelsea star Diego Costa appears to wave goodbye to fans ahead of Chinese move
Alonso makes it 2-0 when his cross from the left squeezes through Guzan’s legs. Boro’s keeper has now been nutmegged twice in 21 minutes.
Chelsea fans also sing a derogatory song about London rivals West Ham - even though The Hammers did them a massive favour by beating Spurs last Friday. There’s gratitude for you.
Pedro hit the bar as Chelsea refuse to let up the pace with their first attack in the second half.
Nemanja Matic makes it 3-0 for Chelsea and the THIRD time Brad Guzan gets nutmegged. That’s going to hurt the keeper’s pride if nothing else.
Cesc Fabregas is the first player in history to notch 10 assists in six different Premier League seasons
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