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Leaders Chelsea continued to answer every test of its credentials as the team's seemingly unstoppable march towards the Premier League title kept pace with a 3-1 win against Bournemouth.
After London rivals Tottenham Hotspur thumped Watford 4-0 to cut their lead to four points, Chelsea faced a potentially difficult visit to the sun-drenched south coast.
Yet an Adam Smith own goal, and further efforts from Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso ensured they comfortably beat the hosts to regain their seven-point advantage.
"When you have this type of opponent (Tottenham) who is in good form and wants to catch you, it is important to have a good answer. This is a good answer," Conte told the BBC.
"There are seven games to go and in England it is not easy, there is a lot of pressure. It's normal to have a good pressure (after Spurs won)."
Consistency has been crucial for the Blues and manager Conte, who won three league titles while manager of Juventus.
Thibaut Courtois is one of the world's best goalkeepers and is playing behind a defensive trio of Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta who have conceded just 25 goals — the league's second tightest defence.
Wing backs Victor Moses and Alonso have provided energy, width and a constant attacking threat while N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic have formed the most dominant midfield pairing in the league.
They have provided the platform from which Hazard, who added Chelsea's second at Bournemouth, top-scorer Diego Costa and Spain forward Pedro have flourished.
The trio have scored 38 league goals between them with a combination of strength, skill and guile to spearhead their title challenge.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe told the BBC: "I have to compliment Chelsea, they're an outstanding team and their system works very well for them. In the end Chelsea were too strong."
Chelsea will next face Manchester United away at Old Trafford next weekend.
The chasing pack all won, headlined by second-placed Tottenham Hotspur's 4-0 mauling of Watford.
Tottenham's South Korean forward Son Heung-min scored twice as the north London side chalked up a sixth successive victory.
Fourth-placed Manchester City ended a four-game run without a league win as they beat relegation-threatened Hull City 3-1 with Sergio Aguero among the scorers at Eastlands.
Liverpool, the team placed third but which has played more games than its rivals, left it late as substitutes Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino earned a precious 2-1 victory at Stoke City.
At the bottom West Ham United eased their relegation fears when they ended a five-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory over third-from-bottom Swansea City at London Stadium.
Second-from-bottom Middlesbrough's hopes of beating the drop are slipping away though after they could only draw 0-0 at home to Burnley — stretching their winless run to 14 league games.
Tottenham kicked off the day's action at White Hart Lane and for 33 minutes it looked as though Watford could frustrate Mauricio Pochettino's side's ambitions of putting pressure on Chelsea.
Dele Alli then scored a superb goal — his 16th of the season in the league — before Eric Dier and Son made it 3-0 before half-time with top-notch finishes.
Son, who had become the first South Korean to score 10 goals in a Premier League season, scored again after the break.
Tottenham's 11th consecutive home league win and seventh league victory in which the team has scored at least four goals put Spurs on 68 points.
Reuters
Topics: sport, soccer, english-premier, england