Conte happy with ‘good’ win over Southampton, wants more clinical finishing

Chelsea notched an 8th win in 10 Premier League games with Saturday’s 1-0 win over Southampton, a run Antonio Conte called brilliant and frustrating at the same time. Brilliant because Chelsea have dropped just 4 points from a possible 30. Frustrating because at the same time, Manchester City have dropped a grand total of zero.

It’s certainly City’s title to lose at this point, but Chelsea remain in the middle of a heavyweight free-for-all for the top four, and we can surely use all the points we can possibly gather in that race.

“A good win, a good job from all my players. Yesterday I said we have to pay great attention against Southampton. They are a good team with young, fast players. I’m happy because my players played the game with great concentration. We deserved to win.

“When the score is only 1-0, despite creating many chances to score the second goal, for sure you don’t relax. But I saw the right attention and commitment from my players so I am happy. We finished with a clean sheet which is important for our goalkeeper and the whole team. This season we have created many chances but we must be more accurate with our finishing. When you score more than one goal, you can be more relaxed, me as well!”

-Antonio Conte; source: Chelsea FC

While Saturday’s win was by just the narrowest or margins, beyond the scoresheet, Chelsea dominated proceedings, creating four times as many shots as the visitors but managing to beat Fraser Forster just the one time with Marcos Alonso’s free kick. (Alonso also, smartly, collected his fifth booking with some time-wasting at the end, and he will thus be able to serve his suspension outside of a league match.)

Well done, all. On to Bournemouth and the League Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday.