West Bromwich, United Kingdom | AFP | Chelsea secured the Premier League title on Friday after substitute Michy Batshuayi’s 82nd-minute goal earned Antonio Conte’s side a hard-earned 1-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion.

The Belgian striker’s goal took Chelsea 10 points clear of second-place Tottenham Hotspur, who have only nine points left to play for.

It is Chelsea’s second title win in three seasons, their sixth in total, and comes at the end of former Juventus and Italy coach Conte’s first season as manager.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> Michy Batshuayi’s late goal has clinched the Premier League title for Chelsea as they beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 but they were made to fight all the way for the victory they craved at The Hawthorns.

Chelsea were suffering some late nerves as West Brom threatened to prolong the title race but substitute Batshuayi prodded home the winner after 82 minutes to spark wild celebrations from Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.

The victory, Chelsea’s 28th of the season, put the long-time league leaders 10 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have only three games left to play.

Italian Conte is only the fourth manager to win the Premier League title at the first attempt, emulating his Stamford Bridge predecessors Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti as well as Manuel Pellegrini who achieved the feat with Manchester City.

The west London club have won the English title six times with five of those triumphs coming in the past 13 seasons.

Earlier, Everton beat Watford 1-0 at Goodison Park through a timely goal to Ross Barkley as the midfielder finds himself in the midst of a contract imbroglio. </s> Chelsea have won the Premier League title after defeating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at the Hawthorns.

A late goal from substitute Michy Batshuayi gave the Blues three points, which mean they hold an unassailable 10-point advantage over Tottenham.

It is the sixth time that the Stamford Bridge side have won England’s top flight and the fourth time since 2004-05 that they have claimed the Premier League title.

Their campaign has been one of virtual unabated excellence since a sticky period in September, when they lost successive matches against Liverpool and Arsenal saw them drop as far as eighth.

Manager Antonio Conte, who arrived in the summer to guide the team after a disappointing 2015-16 season, thereafter altered his side to play with three at the back, and that proved the catalyst for a 13-match winning streak that proved to be the decisive run as they claimed the crown.

Conte’s transformation of Chelsea from fallen champions to Premier League title winners inside 12 months was completed with victory at West Bromwich Albion – a remarkable success story in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

The 47-year-old inherited a squad that had declined from domestic superpower to mid-table mediocrity amid acrimony and the sacking of title-winning manager Jose Mourinho. But he has shown the personality, tactical brilliance and sure touch to put them back at the top of the English game.

The Blues lost London derbies against Spurs and Crystal Palace, while they also went down against a Manchester United side led by Jose Mourinho, sacked 18 months earlier as they made a woeful start to their title defence.

Ironically, though, Conte’s men seemed to be aided by their lack of European football, as it left their squad free to focus on domestic matters as their chief rivals faltered.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> LONDON (REUTERS) - Substitute Michy Batshuayi’s late goal clinched the Premier League title for Chelsea as they beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Friday (May 12) but they were made to fight all the way for the victory they craved at The Hawthorns.

Chelsea were suffering late nerves as West Brom threatened to prolong the title race but Batshuayi prodded home the winner after 82 minutes to spark wild celebrations from Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.

The victory, Chelsea’s 28th of the season, put the long-time league leaders 10 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have only three games left to play.

Italian Conte is only the fourth manager to win the Premier League title at the first attempt, emulating his Stamford Bridge predecessors Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti as well as Manuel Pellegrini who achieved the feat with Manchester City.

Conte, who won three consecutive titles as Juventus manager before taking over the Italian national team, danced for joy with his players in front of Chelsea’s travelling fans as the final whistle blew on a tense night in the Midlands.

Chelsea have now won five Premier League titles since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, but this one is arguably the most impressive considering they finished a woeful 10th last season.

“You have to cherish these moments, you work so hard all season to be where we are. Consistently we have been the best team in the league. There is no better feeling in football,” Chelsea defender and stand-in captain Gary Cahill told Sky Sports. “People have written us off as a team and individually and this has shut them up. We are champions. It’s another one in the cabinet.”

It was not vintage Chelsea but they got the job done.

They dominated possession against eight-placed West Brom who had little to play for but pride and rained in shots before halftime, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro going closest.

West Brom offered the odd counter-attack but the one-way traffic continued as Victor Moses was denied by a splendid low save by Ben Foster.

Eden Hazard had another effort blocked on the line but as Chelsea strained for the winner they began to look a little vulnerable at the back to West Brom counter-attacks.

The visitors had a huge scare when Salomon Rondon burst clear but his effort was superbly blocked by Cahill.

In the end Chelsea owed it to misfit Batshuayi, a peripheral figure for most of the season, to win it with only his second league goal since joining the club.

Six minutes after replacing a tiring Pedro, the Belgian striker signed from Marseille for 33 million pounds (S$60 million), stuck out a leg to convert Cesar Azpilicueta’s cutback despite a valiant attempt by Ben Foster to keep it out.

The final minutes were interrupted by some scuffling in the stands but nothing could dampen Chelsea’s joy. </s> WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) — Chelsea clinched the English Premier League at the first opportunity on Friday, beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 through Michy Batshuayi’s 82nd-minute goal to take an unassailable 10-point lead.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte jumped into the arms of his fellow coaches near the dugout after Batshuayi — just on as a substitute — poked home a close-range finish from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cut-back.

It is a second top-flight league title in three seasons and sixth in total for Chelsea, which has led the standings since early November.

Conte became the fourth manager to win the Premier League in his first season in English soccer and he was thrown in the air by his celebrating players in joyous scenes.

The Italian has had the golden touch, and it extended to the title-clinching game.

Chelsea was being frustrated by a stubborn West Brom defending deep and in numbers, so Conte decided to take off Eden Hazard and Pedro Rodriguez and bring on Batshuayi — surprisingly — and Willian.

Six minutes later, the Belgium striker was scoring the biggest goal of his career and being mobbed by teammates in front of Chelsea’s jubilant visiting fans.

It was only Batshuayi’s second league goal, and first since August.

“The beauty of football,” Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas said, “a player who didn’t play a lot scores the winning goal for the championship.”

It marked the end of a title race that has been dominated by Chelsea, with only Tottenham giving chase.

Spurs lost at West Ham 1-0 last week to give Chelsea three opportunities to clinch the league. They needed only one.

Chelsea has won 28 of its 36 games, including nine of its last 11 matches. It’s a remarkable turnaround for a club that finished 10th in the league last season in the worst-ever Premier League title defense.

“Consistently we have been the best team in the league,” Chelsea defender Gary Cahill said. “There is no better feeling in football. People have written us off as a team and individually and this has shut them up.”

Conte’s team has also reached the final of the FA Cup, where it will play Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on May 27. </s> West Brom 0 Chelsea 1: Antonio Conte came, he saw, and last night he conquered as Chelsea were crowned Premier League champions.

They had to grind it out here in the Black Country, defeating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 to secure the title with two games to spare thanks to Michy Batshuayi’s goal in the 82nd minute.

Despite Tottenham’s attempts to push Chelsea all the way, this has long been the Blues’ Premier League title to lose and indeed they have sat top of the table since the middle of November.

They have scored more goals than any other side in England’s top flight, 76 to be precise, and they have only been as prolific as that in one other season — during the 2009/10 campaign when they ended up with 103 goals to their name.

They were not always at their flowing best under the lights at the Hawthorns, but they got the job done in front of a small group of away fans — some of whom had reportedly stumped up £1,800 (€2,120) to be there.

The victory means Chelsea have claimed the Premier League in five of the last 13 years, a record that can only be beaten by Manchester United.

It also means Conte is now the fourth manager to win the title in his first season, joining an illustrious list of Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, and Manuel Pellegrini.

Chelsea started like a team hungry and eager to get the job done, rather than drag it out to Monday’s match with Watford.

Conte, who was searching for his fourth successive league title having won Serie A three times on the spin with Juventus, was his usual all-action self on the sideline, waving his arms and urging forward the unchanged XI he named after Monday’s win over Middlesbrough.

However, it was West Brom who went close after a matter of seconds as Salomon Rondon’s header was tipped over the bar by Thibaut Courtois.

That, though, proved to be nothing more than a flash in the pan — other than the odd counter — as Chelsea proceeded to find their rhythm.

Gary Cahill was inches away from finding the net from Cesc Fabregas’s free-kick and Pedro fired over from the edge of the box as another cleverly worked set-piece went close.

Chelsea were beginning to turn the screw and Eden Hazard was starting to find the pockets of space that had made him such a threat this season.

However, as Cahill saw another back-post effort blocked, it was clear a familiar theme was starting to develop with half an hour of the match gone. Chelsea could have all the possession they wanted, but West Brom were not going to roll over and hand them the title.

The visitors were getting ever closer though. First, Fabregas fired a shot inches wide and then Pedro, cutting in from the right, saw an effort whistle past the same post as the two sides went in level at half-time.

Chelsea returned for the second half knowing they needed to sharpen up.

They may have had 14 shots in the first half, but only one of those was on target and some fine-tuning was required to find the back of the net. They got their second of the night moments after the break, as Ben Foster had to be at full stretch to deny Victor Moses’ stinging drive.

Hazard was looking livelier too and his mazy run through the West Brom defence almost saw the ball end up in the net, only for Claudio Yacob to hack the ball of the line.

Time was ticking away for Chelsea to wrap the title up and as Diego Costa fell flat on his backside when trying to find space in the box, you got the sense that with 30 minutes to go it just wasn’t going to be their night.

With 15 minutes to go, Conte decided to roll the dice and on came Willian and Batshuayi as Chelsea shifted to a 4-4-2.

And just as so much has for Conte this season, it worked as Batshuayi came up with goods with eight minutes to go.

Cahill shanked a shot wide, but Azpilicueta was able to divert it goalwards into the path of Batshuayi to wrap up the points and the title. </s> Michy Batshuayi made 18 substitute appearances throughout the 2016-17 Premier League season, but none was more important than the one he made on Friday.

Needing three points to clinch the Premier League title against West Bromwich Albion and with the match goalless with 82 minutes played, Batshuayi slotted home a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta to deliver Chelsea its sixth-ever English top-flight title and fifth Premier League championship.

The three points put Chelsea at 87 points, 10 points clear of second-place Tottenham who has three matches to play.

The victory officially stops Leicester City's reign as Premier League title holders after a 375-day stretch that was one of the most improbable in sports history. It also provides a grand finish to Antonio Conte's first year as Chelsea manager, who took over Jose Mourinho after the West Londoners finished in 10th last season.

Chelsea now has won two English titles in the past three seasons and five in the last 13.

Before the Roman Abramovich era at Chelsea, the Blues' last top-flight title came in the 1954-55 season.

A sixth title continues Chelsea's rise into the upper echelons of English football: </s> MANCHESTER City have long since wrapped up the Premier League title - but their hunger for records continued until the final kick of the final day.

Pep Guardiola’s men passed more landmarks with their 1-0 win at Southampton on Sunday, becoming the first team to achieve 100 points in the top flight of English football.

Here, we pick out the records City have smashed this season.

From Raheem Sterling’s last-gasp winner at Bournemouth on August 26 until City’s 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on New Year’s Eve, they won 18 Premier League games in a row, demolishing the 13-game record set by Chelsea in 2016/17. The streak also beat Arsenal’s 14-game run of wins which was split across the end of the 2001/02 season and the start of 2002/03.

The 902 passes achieved against Chelsea in March’s 1-0 win was a new Premier League record, surpassing the total set by Guardiola’s side in October against West Brom. Ilkay Gundogan’s 167 successful passes and 181 touches from the same game were also Premier League records.

Chelsea scored 103 goals during their title-winning season in 2009/10 under Carlo Ancelotti, which equates to 2.7 goals per game on average.

But under Guardiola’s stewardship, City have surpassed that total reaching 106 for the campaign with their late winner at Southampton.

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea set a new record for Premier League wins with 30 last season, but City have surpassed it and set a new benchmark of 32.

Guardiola’s City became the first team in English football history to finish a top-flight campaign with 100 points.

In doing so, they eclipsed a Chelsea record for points - the Blues racked up 95 points in 2004/05.

City’s win at Southampton means they have won 16 of their 19 away fixtures, only dropping points at Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Burnley.

They’ve surpassed Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side of 2004/05 with their final-day victory.

Chelsea collected 48 points on the road during 2004/05 but Guardiola’s men made it 50 on the road with their final day win at Southampton.

Man City have also clinched the best goal difference in the Premier League era. The previous top tally was +71, set by Chelsea in 2009/10, which was boosted by 29 goals from top goalscorer Didier Drogba.

City’s win over Southampton has taken them to a new high of +79.

Manchester United ended the 1999/00 campaign 18 points ahead of runners-up Arsenal, despite winning only 28 of their fixtures.

But this season, they finished 19 points behind City - a huge gulf to make up next year.

The United side of 2000/01 held the previous record for winning the title with the highest number of games remaining, being crowned champions with five fixtures to play after a title-winning 4-2 victory over Coventry at Old Trafford. City have matched that record. </s> WEST BROMWICH-Substitute Michy Batshuayi's dramatic 82nd-minute winner gave Chelsea the Premier League title following a hard-earned 1-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion on Friday. The Belgian striker's late goal at The Hawthorns took Antonio Conte's side 10 points clear of second-place Tottenham Hotspur, who have only nine points left to play for.

It is Chelsea's second title win in three seasons, their sixth in total, and comes at the end of former Juventus and Italy coach Conte's first season as manager. "This is a great achievement for the players," Conte told Sky Sports in a pitch-side interview after breaking away from his players' jubilant celebrations.

"I thank them for their commitment and work-rate. They showed me a great attitude to try to do something great this season. After this win we must be happy, we must be pleased. It wasn't easy for me to arrive in England and try different habits, a different language and inherit players after a bad season."

A video posted on Chelsea's official Twitter account showed reserve goalkeeper Asmir Begovic tipping an ice bucket over Conte as he entered the changing room while Diego Costa sprayed him with champagne.

Batshuayi, the understudy to Costa, had only been on the pitch for seven minutes when he scored the winning goal -- his first in the league since August. "It's good. It's the best day for Chelsea today," said Batshuayi, who arrived from Marseille last year in a £33.2 million ($42.8 million, 39.1 million euros) transfer. "Everybody is happy. It's great to take the trophy."

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas said: "I thought it was going to be one of those days. We had so many chances in the first half and then we got a bit nervous. The beauty of football: a player who didn't play a lot scores the winning goal for the championship."

Conte, who claimed three Serie A titles as Juventus coach, has restored Chelsea to the winners' circle by rebuilding from the chaotic end of Jose Mourinho's second reign. Two years after Mourinho led Chelsea to the title, Conte has stitched the London club back together after dressing-room unity unravelled under Mourinho during a horrendous title defence last season. The Italian's side finally broke through West Brom's stubborn resistance with eight minutes remaining and will now chase the double when they face Arsenal in the FA Cup final on May 27.

Chelsea were almost stunned inside 30 seconds as West Brom created the game's first chance. Darren Fletcher's lofted pass found Salomon Rondon and his flicked header drew a smart save from Thibaut Courtois. Chelsea quickly began applying pressure, but West Brom had a huge chance on the counter-attack when James McClean seized on a loose pass and raced 50 yards into Chelsea territory.

But his attempted pass to Rondon was poor and the Venezuelan was crowded out by Chelsea defenders. Chelsea were becoming frustrated in their efforts to breach the Baggies' defence, but Fabregas nearly broke through with a snap-shot that flashed half a yard wide of the far post. Chelsea might have broken the deadlock just two minutes into the second half when a powerful cross-shot from Victor Moses was turned around the post superbly by West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster. Yet there was almost a shock for Chelsea when Rondon escaped a challenge from David Luiz and raced clear, only for Cesar Azpilicueta to make a vital, saving challenge. Rondon then teed up substitute Nacer Chadli, who fired a shot narrowly wide.

But with eight minutes remaining, Chelsea finally struck as Azpilicueta broke into the West Brom box and crossed from the right for Batshuayi to force home from close range.

Conte charged onto the field in celebration, while West Brom stewards were forced to eject three pitch invaders before the game could be completed and Chelsea could celebrate the title. "We didn't need Chelsea to get a bit of luck," said West Brom manager Tony Pulis. "We needed to have the breaks go for us. We contained them well. No-one can say they had an easy game."

Long-standing captain John Terry will lift the Premier League trophy after Chelsea's final game of the season at home to Sunderland on May 21, which will be his last match for the club. "These boys have been on the field doing it week in, week out," Terry said. "It's been a delight to sit and watch, a different perspective. The togetherness was shown from day one."
In association football, Chelsea have secured the Premier League title after winning away against West Bromwich Albion.