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Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP | Chelsea manager Antonio Conte conceded his side were powerless against an “unstoppable” Manchester City who opened up an 18-point Premier League lead with a 1-0 home win on Sunday.
Bernardo Silva scored the only goal of the match 35 seconds into the second half at the Etihad Stadium when he prodded home at the back post from David Silva’s low cross.
Chelsea’s fourth defeat in five league games left Antonio Conte’s reigning English title-holders five points adrift of the top four.
FULL-TIME | ? 1-0 ? #cityvcfc #mancity
Who needs classics when you’re four wins away from the title?! Good work, boys! Let’s keep going! pic.twitter.com/YOsP3LdG3J
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 4, 2018
And the Italian’s negative approach came under scrutiny after the visitors failed to register a shot on target after he again opted to start without a recognised centre-forward by leaving Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud on the bench.
“Today they showed the difference between them and us in this moment,” said Conte.
“Twenty-five points is a big gap and I think that we can have a regret for the other games but not for this one.
“The effort of the players was an important effort. When you play against Manchester City, this type of team, they are showing fantastic quality but also fantastic mentality.
“When you match quality with mentality, you become unstoppable.”
City now need a maximum of four wins from their last nine league games to seal the title and even manager Pep Guardiola admitted he is surprised by the extent of City’s dominance.
Our recap of how it all went down at the Etihad today. #cityvcfc #mancity https://t.co/wLeC7R8Fop
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 4, 2018
“No way. Who could believe it?” Guardiola said of his side amassing 78 points from 29 games. “I think if you ask the players, the players neither.”
Guardiola celebrated wildly at the full-time whistle as he senses his first Premier League title is now a matter of weeks away.
And he hailed his players’ relentlessness not to let up despite their mammoth lead.
“I think we made an amazing performance because (it) is against Chelsea, the last champion.
“We were aggressive, we had desire, we had commitment to show we want to do it again and again, and that’s why we won.”
