Chelsea’s Spanish midfielder Pedro (R) celebrates with teammates after scoring their third goal during the English Premier League football match between Huddersfield Town and Chelsea at the John Smith’s stadium in Huddersfield, northern England on December 12, 2017. Oli SCARFF / AFP
Chelsea responded perfectly to head coach Antonio Conte’s claim their Premier League title hopes are over with a convincing 3-1 win at Huddersfield Town on Tuesday.
Tiemoue Bakayoko opened the scoring midway through the first half with a deft clipped finish, offering an answer to supporters who have criticised him for a series of poor performances following his July move from Monaco.
Willian headed in a second goal shortly before half-time and Pedro made it three to leave Chelsea level on points with second-place Manchester United, who host Bournemouth on Wednesday.
Upwardly mobile Burnley are one place below Chelsea in fourth after edging Stoke City 1-0, while Crystal Palace hauled themselves off the foot of the table with two late goals in a dramatic 2-1 defeat of Watford.
Conte, who has cut an increasingly grumpy figure this season, said after Chelsea’s surprise 1-0 defeat at West Ham United that his side had no chance of catching leaders Manchester City in the title race.
The Italian has complained lately of a demanding fixture schedule, player fatigue and and a lack of investment in the squad by the club’s board.
For his side’s fourth game of nine in a packed December, Conte was without his 10-goal top scorer Alvaro Morata because of a bad back, with Eden Hazard deployed as a false nine in front of Willian and Pedro.
Captain Gary Cahill and playmaker Cesc Fabregas dropped to the bench, while wing-back Davide Zappacosta was omitted from the squad altogether.
The visitors thought they had made the breakthrough in the sixth minute, but Pedro was just offside as he ran clear to slot in Willian’s pass through the middle.
But Chelsea made their superiority count as they took the lead midway through the first half.
Goalkeeper Jonas Lossl slipped as he cleared the ball and Victor Moses’s header was touched on stylishly by Hazard to Willian.
McArthur winner
He fed a pass left for Bakayoko to chip over the advancing goalkeeper, despite Chris Lowe’s attempt to clear off the line.
The champions got their second goal with just over two minutes to go to half-time.
Stand-in captain Cesar Azpilicueta’s long diagonal pass from inside his own half found Marcos Alonso in space on the left and he had time to cross for Willian to bounce in a header at the far post.
A third Chelsea goal took less than five minutes of the second half to arrive and again it came from an Alonso cross.
Willian held off Mathias Jorgensen and teed up Pedro to hammer into the top-right corner from 18 yards.
Huddersfield claimed a stoppage-time consolation when Laurent Depoitre glanced a header into the net from fellow substitute Florent Hadergjonaj’s left-wing cross.
Burnley provisionally climbed to the dizzy heights of fourth place after Ashley Barnes drilled home in the 89th minute to snatch a gritty win over Stoke at Turf Moor.
The modest Lancashire club climb above Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, all of whom are in action on Wednesday.
There was an extraordinary finale at Selhurst Park, where Palace scored twice in the dying stages to beat Watford and leap out of the relegation zone.
Daryl Janmaat put Watford in front in the third minute, but after Tom Cleverley was sent off, Bakary Sako bundled in an 89th-minute equaliser and Wilfried Zaha teed up James McArthur for a stoppage-time winner.
