Antonio Conte did not talk with Chelsea players after Crystal Palace defeat

ANTONIO CONTE is staying cool. It might sound odd from a manager who was swinging from the dugout roof two weeks ago but the Italian is refusing to let his emotions get the better of him as the title race hots up.

Posted Monday, April 03, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Crystal Palace's extraordinary win at Stamford Bridge has at last opened the door slightly at the top of the Premier League. What had up until Saturday looked like a procession towards the title for Conte's team, is now a contest again.

Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, and if Chelsea lose again and Tottenham win on the same night at Swansea, then the gap at the summit will have shrunk to just four points, with eight games left.

This was such an utterly unexpected defeat that Chelsea and Conte seemed stunned at the end of a game that saw Sam Allardyce's Palace take a huge step in guaranteeing Premier League football for themselves next season.

The normally excitable Conte, leaping onto the dugout roof after the win at Stoke a fortnight ago, was subdued and thoughtful afterwards. He had been warning for some time that the race was far from over, and his warnings had come true.

But the Italian did not berate his players afterwards. In fact he did not even talk to them.

Antonio Conte is staying cool as Chelsea aim to wrap up the title

"After a game I don't like to talk with my players," said Conte. "If you win or if you lose its not right to talk after the game because you are full of emotion, and sometimes you are not cool . Its better always to talk the day after.

"Our pathway is always the same, whether we win or lose. We will see the game together with positive and negative situations to try to improve. But I don't change my mentality whether we win or lose.

"This league was not finished before this game and it's not finished now. There are nine games to play and we have to go step by step. At the end, if we deserve to win the title we will be happy. If someone else deserves to win the title, it means that they have played better than us."

It was only Chelsea's second home defeat of the season, and their first anywhere since losing at Tottenham on January 4.

After that setback, Conte's team went on a run of 10 wins in 12 games. They need a similar recovery now, in what Sir Alex Ferguson famously used to call "squeaky bum time". Conte said: "This defeat is totally different. We are another team, a strong team. It wasn't our day. We dominated the game.

"I don't like to use the word ‘unlucky'. But we deserved at least a point. It's normal when you are at a great club and you fight for the title that there is pressure. Don't forget the other teams were candidates to win the title and we have stayed up there."

Chelsea could not have made a better start, Cesc Fabregas flicking in Eden Hazard's cross after only four minutes. But then defensive sloppiness allowed Christian Benteke to set up the excellent Wilfried Zaha for the equaliser just four minutes later, and from another breakout, the pair combined again for Benteke to give Palace a lead they hung grimly onto for the next 80 odd minutes.

Chelsea in defence were poor, David Luiz seemingly back to his bad old days of flailing about aimlessly, and in attack Diego Costa was once again worryingly blunt.

Led by the excellent Mamadou Sakho and with goalkeeper Wayne Henessey performing heroics, Palace defended as if their lives depended upon it. They were lucky when Andros Townsend handled on the line but referee Craig Pawson missed it, and when Costa nodded wide from six yards, but you could not deny Palace their fortune.

In fact had Thibaut Courtois not saved brilliantly from Zaha late on from another breakaway, it could have been worse for Chelsea.

Allardyce, in charge since December, said: "I had to start setting standards and basic responsibilities on what you need to do to win a game. There's no doubt the transfer market has been a massive influence. Our selection of players have done exceptionally well."