Conte: We still need 29 points for Premier League title

Antonio Conte refused to be drawn on talk it is Chelsea’s title to lose after their 3-1 Premier League win over Swansea City and is focused on the 29 points they need to be mathematically sure of becoming champions.

Chelsea dominated for long periods at Stamford Bridge having opened the scoring through Cesc Fabregas, only for Fernando Llorente to level on the stroke of half-time.

But, after Fabregas hit the crossbar, Chelsea regained the lead as Lukasz Fabianski allowed a Pedro effort to squirm under him, Diego Costa adding late gloss to the scoreline by taking his individual tally against Swansea to eight.

With Manchester City now 11 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand, Chelsea require a maximum of 29 points from their final 12 games, and Conte does not believe a title triumph is a foregone conclusion.

“It’s not a true 11 points, the other teams have to play, I like to tell this that they need another 29 points to win the league and if we are able from now at the end to take 29 points for sure we win the title,” Conte said.

“Twenty-nine points are a lot. There are 12 games to the end but I repeat it’s important to continue to work in this way and have this commitment from my players. My players are deserving of this.”

FULL-TIME Chelsea 3-1 Swansea. The table-toppers see off a tenacious Swansea to go 11 points clear pic.twitter.com/5eObW9rchu

— Premier League (@premierleague) February 25, 2017

Swansea had a huge claim for a penalty waved away at 1-1 when Cesar Azpilicueta appeared to handle in the area.

Conte felt the Spaniard was too close to Gylfi Sigurdsson when he flicked the ball onto Azpilicueta’s arm for a penalty to be given.

“We dominated the game, I didn’t see the good moment for Swansea, we played very well and we created the great chances,” he added. 

“For sure Azpi touched the ball with the hand but he was very close. We deserved a lot to win this game, I’m very happy for my players.”

Swansea manager Paul Clement disagreed and was adamant his side should have been awarded a spot-kick. The defeat leaves the Welsh side just three points clear of the relegation zone.

Clement said: “We did have a very good claim for a penalty, the score’s 1-1 at the time, I thought at the time that Azpilicueta had handled it, having looked at the video evidence it’s handball.

“We didn’t have very many chances, they had a lot of chances, defensively we frustrated them for long periods, we can be happy with the work we put in.

“Clearly 1-1 and you’ve got a big shout for a penalty, and the game goes 3-1, you’re going to be disappointed.

“March is going to be a critical month for us, our confidence is still high and there’s no reason for it to be damaged.”