Season: 2016–17

Notes

From tenth place to champions in one season: Antonio Conte gave Chelsea a new shape and a new heartbeat. His appointment had been announced on 4 April 2016, on a three-year contract, with work to begin after Italy’s European Championship campaign. He led Chelsea throughout 2016–17, turning a bruised side into the winners of the club’s fifth Premier League title and sixth English championship overall. There was no European football, so the league and domestic cups had the stage to themselves. Kanté arrived from Leicester, David Luiz returned and Marcos Alonso joined; the most important change, though, would come on the training pitch. September exposed the problems. A 2–1 home defeat by Liverpool was followed by a 3–0 loss at Arsenal on 24 September. Conte moved to a back three during the Arsenal game, then built the side around a 3–4–3: Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Cahill behind wing-backs Moses and Alonso; Kanté and Matić covering the middle; Hazard and Pedro supporting Costa. The balance changed everything. A 2–0 win at Hull on 1 October began a run of 13 consecutive league victories. Chelsea swept aside Manchester United 4–0 and Everton 5–0 at the Bridge, beat Tottenham 2–1 and came from behind to win 3–1 at Manchester City. Spurs finally ended the sequence with a 2–0 win on 4 January, but the transformation was already complete. Chelsea finished with 93 points, seven clear of Tottenham: 30 wins, three draws and five defeats, goals 85–33 and a +52 difference. Thirty wins was a Premier League single-season record at the time. At home the record was 17–0–2, goals 55–17; away it was 13–3–3, goals 30–16. Costa led the scoring with 20 league goals and 22 overall. Hazard scored 16 in the league and 17 overall, Pedro 13 overall, Willian 12 and Batshuayi nine. Kanté’s tireless work won the Premier League Player of the Season award and Conte was named Manager of the Season. Hazard’s slaloming goal in the 3–1 home win over Arsenal on 4 February captured the freedom the new system gave him. There were still tests to pass. Defeats by Crystal Palace and Manchester United in April kept the pressure alive, but Hazard’s double beat City 2–1 between them, and Chelsea answered with Southampton 4–2, Everton 3–0 and Middlesbrough 3–0. On 12 May at West Brom, one more win would secure the title. The home defence held firm until Azpilicueta kept the ball alive near the byline and picked out substitute Michy Batshuayi, who scored in the 82nd minute. The 1–0 win sparked wild celebrations at the Hawthorns: champions with two games to spare. Chelsea then beat Watford 4–3 and Sunderland 5–1. The final league match on 21 May brought the trophy presentation and an emotional farewell to John Terry, substituted in the 26th minute of his last Chelsea appearance. The FA Cup nearly supplied a double. Peterborough were beaten 4–1, Brentford 4–0 and Wolves 2–0 before Kanté’s goal settled a 1–0 quarter-final win over Manchester United at the Bridge on 13 March. Tottenham awaited at Wembley on 22 April. Willian scored a free-kick and a penalty, but Kane and Alli twice brought Spurs level. Hazard came off the bench to restore Chelsea’s lead, then laid the ball back for Matić to thunder a spectacular shot in off the woodwork. The 4–2 win was one of the season’s great afternoons, a semi-final fought at full stretch against the nearest league challengers. The final on 27 May belonged to Arsenal. Sánchez put them ahead early; Moses was sent off after a second yellow card in the second half. Ten-man Chelsea still found a response, Costa equalising in the 76th minute, but Ramsey headed the winner three minutes later. The 2–1 defeat hurt, and the double slipped away. It did not change what the league campaign had achieved, but it gave the final afternoon a different colour from the celebrations six days earlier. The EFL Cup ended in the fourth round. Chelsea beat Bristol Rovers 3–2 at home, then recovered from 2–0 down at Leicester to win 4–2 after extra time, Fàbregas scoring twice in the additional period. West Ham won 2–1 at the London Stadium on 26 October despite Cahill’s late reply. There was no Shield, Super Cup or European campaign to add to the programme. Home league crowds averaged 41,508, with a high of 41,622 against West Brom and a low of 41,168 against Southampton. Above all, this was Conte’s title: a demanding system made joyful by the players who brought it to life, and a club lifted back to the top.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._seasons
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_Chelsea_F.C._season
• https://www.fchd.info/CHELSEA.HTM
• https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Summaries/2016.htm
• https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/2016.htm
• https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng2017.htm
• https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/401576
• https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/418708
• https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/389992
• https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/693686
• https://www.thefa.com/news/2017/may/27/arsenal-chelsea-emirates-fa-cup-final-report-270517
• https://www.thefa.com/news/2017/apr/22/emirates-fa-cup-semi-final-chelsea-tottenham-hotspur-match-report-220417
• https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/looking-back--john-terry-s-final-chelsea-game-and-farewell-words