Five matches that won Chelsea the Premier League title

Graham Caygill picks five crucial games, the results of which gave the London club a big push towards the trophy.

Diego Costa of Chelsea celebrates scoring their third goal against Burnley at Turf Moor in August last year. Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images

Burnley 1 Chelsea 3, August 18 2014

In many ways the opening game of the season summed up Chelsea’s season. Looked comfortable, went behind to a shock goal, scored three times in a devastating 17-minute burst at Turf Moor through Diego Costa, Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic, and then were content to cruise for the rest of the match to pick up their first three points of the year.

Everton 3 Chelsea 6, August 30, 2014

Frustration at Chelsea and Jose Mourinho’s defensive approach to wrapping up the title is based as much in the fact that they were capable of playing such fast-flowing attacking football when they wanted. Putting six past Everton in August highlighted this, with one of the best defences in the league in the 2013/14 unable to cope with the vigour of Chelsea’s forward play.

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Manchester City 1 Chelsea 1, September 2014

On paper this was a disappointing result as Frank Lampard’s goal on his first appearance against his old employers denied Chelsea the three points. But Mourinho’s side were impressive against the league champions, and demonstrated the compact, counter-attacking display that would frustrate their title rivals throughout the season with City, Arsenal and Manchester United failing to beat them in the six games they played against the other sides in the top four.

Swansea City 0 Chelsea 5, January 17, 2015

Chelsea had not been impressive over the Christmas period and had been left reeling by a surprise 5-3 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day. They had allowed their early points advantage over to Manchester City, but a 5-0 victory at Swansea City, with four goals in the first 39 minutes, demonstrated there was no crisis at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 0, April 26, 2015

It may not have been pretty by any means, but Chelsea put on a defensive masterclass at the Emirates Stadium to quash the last lingering threat to their title dreams. Arsenal were the form team in the league, winning their previous eight games and scoring 18 goals, but they were shut out by a strong Chelsea defence led by John Terry.

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