West Ham United 1 Chelsea 2
West Ham: Lanzini (90+2)
Chelsea: Hazard (25'), Diego Costa (50')
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The term “flat-track bully” carries with it negative connotations.
Often used to refer to a striker who regularly scores against weaker sides but struggles to make an impact in the bigger games, it can also describe teams who possess significantly superior records when facing opponents they are expected to beat.
The phrase need not be considered a slight, though, or at least not when it concerns sides who are as consistent as Premier League leaders Chelsea. This 2-1 victory over West Ham United means Antonio Conte’s team have now taken 53 points from their 19 meetings with those teams outside the top six, which is the principal reason why they are closing in on the title.
Chelsea, indeed, have lost to Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Arsenal this season, yet those three defeats against their rivals at the top of the table have not hindered their chances of ending the campaign in first place.
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Read more
■ Antonio Conte: Chelsea must make Champions League 'every year'
■ Team of the week: Find out who joins Harry Kane in this week's XI
■ Arsenal v Bayern: With result decided, focus remains on Sanchez saga
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Draws against Swansea City and Burnley represent their only blemishes against the rest of the division, as they once again avoided defeat against inferior opposition on Monday evening.
Chelsea actually started the match at the London Stadium rather slowly, spending much of the first quarter pinned back inside their own half by an energetic and intense West Ham.
The hosts’ approach revolved around working the ball out wide and tossing crosses into the box for Andy Carroll to attack in the air. Although they created few clear-cut chances in the opening stages, the early pressure was all theirs as Chelsea, seeking to extend their advantage in the league to 10 points, struggled to get a foothold in the game.
Then, within the space of a few seconds, everything changed. N’Golo Kante did what N’Golo Kante does, pinching possession and moving it on quickly to a teammate, in this case Eden Hazard. The Belgium international exchanged passes with Pedro as the visitors roared forward on the counter-attack, before rounding Darren Randolph to put his side ahead against the run of play.
It was the 21st time Chelsea have opened the scoring this season — and the 18th game they have won after netting first. Conte’s men looked so comfortable thereafter, as they controlled proceedings and kept the home side at arm’s length for the remainder of the encounter.
Chelsea were never panicked or hurried, instead biding their time and picking the right moments to attack. When they did venture forward they were exhilarating to watch, repeatedly slicing through West Ham with their sharp movement and incisive passing. Patient without the ball, Conte’s charges were piercing with it.
The second of the evening arrived from a set-piece, Diego Costa turning the ball home with his knee after Hazard’s corner was inadvertently flicked on by Pedro Obiang. Chelsea had plenty of chances to increase their advantage even further, but a touch of profligacy inside the penalty area prevented them from doing so.
West Ham did rally a little, with Thibaut Courtois called into action to brilliantly deny Sofiane Feghouli just after the hour-mark, before Conte proceeded to shut the game down by introducing Nemanja Matic in place of Pedro and shifting to a 3-5-2 formation. Manuel Lanzini did halve the deficit in stoppage time, but it was a case of too little, too late for Slaven Bilic’s men, who have now won only one of their last six fixtures in front of their own supporters.
The West Ham manager’s opposite number on Monday night has no such concerns, either at home or on the road. Chelsea are flat-track bullies and they are going to win the Premier League because of it.
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Company%20profile
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
MATCH DETAILS
Barcelona 0
Slavia Prague 0
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Lecce v SPAL (6pm)
Bologna v Genoa (9pm)
Atlanta v Roma (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Hellas Verona (3.30pm)
Juventus v Brescia (6pm)
Sampdoria v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sassuolo v Parma (6pm)
Cagliari v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Torino (11.45pm)
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The%20specs
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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