Chelsea's title celebrations were in full flow on Friday evening as the Blues needed a late goal to beat West Brom and clinch the Premier League title. Super-sub Michy Batshuayi, often an after-thought this season, scored the crucial goal in a 1-0 win to seal Chelsea's fifth Premier League title.
A hard-fought victory for Chelsea, with a much deserved winner coming late on thanks to the Belgian striker.
Chelsea denied at every turn
The first half consisted of very few chances for either side, especially Chelsea who were the much more dominant of the two. The Blues had an early appeal for a penalty as a cross seemed to be handled by Chris Brunt by nothing was given. Chelsea were on the front foot for much of the opening stages, aiming to put the game to bed early and get the party started.
The best chance of the half fell to Cesc Fabregas, who was pulling all the strings from deep but ventured forward to have an effort just after the 30 minute mark. This time, Fabregas opted to let rip from distance but his shot fizzed just wide of the far post.
The hosts managed to limit Chelsea to a few half-chances, including Pedro curling a shot just wide of the post, but nothing of note. West Brom seemed to frustrate the visitors in the opening 45, constantly forming two walls of four and keeping them at bay.
Michy Magic
The second half began in a similar fashion, with Chelsea dominating proceedings and creating a few half chances. West Brom came out of their shell after the break, choosing to attack in an attempt to ruin Chelsea's party.
Victor Moses forced Ben Foster into a superb save just after the restart, the West Brom goalkeeper getting down well to push Moses' shot wide.
Eden Hazard almost provided the moment of the night as he burst into the box and his eventual cross was almost prodded in by Craig Dawson but the defender's blushes were saved by Claudio Yacob on the line.
Salomon Rondon came close to opening the scoring with 20 minutes to go, slipping past David Luiz and racing through on goal but excellent work from Cesar Azpilicueta saw the striker's shot blocked at the last minute. West Brom continued to push for the upset and substitute Nacer Chadli came inches away from ruining the party, but the winger slid his shot wide from a good position.
Chelsea finally got their breakthrough on 83 minutes as Michy Batshuayi tapped home to seal the Premier League title. A sliced volley from Gary Cahill fell to Azpilicueta, who found Batshuayi's outstretched leg for the winner.
The goal gives Chelsea their fifth Premier League title in their history and second in the last three seasons. Antonio Conte's men close out the season against Watford and Sunderland, with the trophy presentation coming on the final day of the title-winning campaign.