Chelsea beat Watford 4-3
Chelsea celebrated their Premier League tite triumph with a hard-earned victory over Watford in an ill-tempered but thrilling encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Manager Antonio Conte and his Chelsea players were able to take the acclaim on a lap of honour after the final whistle - but they were made to work for the win by a fired-up and physical Watford.
John Terry, who will leave at the end of the season after more than two decades at the club, celebrated his first league start since September by scoring Chelsea's 100th goal in all competitions this term. It came after 22 minutes before he then gifted Watford's Etienne Capoue an instant equaliser with a poor header.
Cesar Azpilicueta restored Chelsea's lead with a crisp finish before half-time and the contest looked over when Michy Batshuayi, who scored the title-winning goal at West Bromwich Albion on Friday, added a third just after the break.
Watford, however, showed commendable fight. Daryl Janmaat's fine solo effort put the visitors within reach before substitute Stefano Okaka, who was given his Italy debut by Chelsea boss Conte, took advantage of defensive uncertainty to slam in an equaliser.
Chelsea, as so often this season, found a way to win as substitute Cesc Fabregas struck from the edge of the area with three minutes left - while Watford's misery was compounded when Sebastian Prodl was sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time.
Conte can do no wrong and he was being cheered at Stamford Bridge within seconds of appearing in his technical area after winning the Premier League at the first time of asking.
This was a night for Chelsea to bask in the glory of their success and hard work this season, and after a slow start, the crowd warmed to the occasion.
For Conte, it was also the opportunity to give some of his shadow squad game time, with the likes of Thibaut Courtois and Nemanja Matic given the night off and Diego Costa, Fabregas, Pedro, Gary Cahill and Marcos Alonso on the bench.
- Chelsea have equalled the record from most wins in a single Premier League season [29, also achieved by the Blues in 04-05 and 05-06]
- Watford scored with all three of their shots on target
- Antonio Conte made nine changes to the starting 11 for this game, the most ever by a Chelsea manager in the Premier League
- Jose Holebas has picked up a league-high 14 yellow cards in the Premier League this season; no player has ever picked up more in a single campaign [also 14 for Lee Cattermole in 14-15, Cheick Tiote in 10-11, Robbie Savage in 01-02 and Mark Hughes in 98-99)
- John Terry has now netted in each of his past 17 top-flight campaigns
- Terry's goal was Chelsea's 1,000th in the Premier League since Roman Abramovich took over [in the summer of 2003]
- It was also the Blues' 100th goal in all competitions this season
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