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Antonio Conte unconcerned by Chelsea profligacy

Premier League: Chelsea were guilty of wasting a lot of chances in their over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge, but Antonio Conte was not too worried.

By Ryan Benson
Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte

London, March 11: Antonio Conte was not overly concerned by the amount of chances Chelsea wasted in Saturday's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, adamant the overall performance was a pleasing one.

Chelsea had little difficulty against Palace for the majority of the match, opening up a two-goal lead by the 32nd minute thanks to Willian's opener and a Martin Kelly own-goal.

The hosts were dominant after the break too, creating several opportunities to trouble Wayne Hennessey in the Palace goal, while the post came to the visitors' rescue to deny Olivier Giroud in the 67th minute.

Conte acknowledged they could have been more clinical, but overall it was a performance that impressed him.

"I think we created a lot of chances to score a lot of goals and we conceded to make it 2-1 at the end and, for sure, there was a little pressure," he told BT Sport.

"But we were very good to keep the ball outside of our box [after Palace's goal]. We deserved to win.

"We played a really good game, especially in the second half and we created chances to score.

"We tried to finish the game, kill the game, but I think that we tried and the goalkeeper made good saves.

"We hit the post. For sure, when you have so many chances it's important to be clinical, kill the game, but we must be pleased with the performance of the team as a whole and now we must prepare for Barcelona."

The match was a frustrating one for Giroud, who is still searching for his first Premier League goal since joining Chelsea.

Giroud saw one effort cleared off the line and also hit the post, but Conte feels the Frenchman had a "positive" display nonetheless.

"I think Olivier was unlucky," Conte added. "He had two clear chances to score; he hit the post and then in another situation it was a deflection off the defender.

"But I think his commitment was positive for the team. We must be pleased with him."

Source: OPTA

Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 9:13 [IST]
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