Sunday 17 December 2017 09:13, UK
Antonio Conte has called on his Chelsea players to be more clinical in front of goal after their 1-0 win over Southampton on Saturday.
Marco Alonso's stunning free-kick on the stroke of half-time proved decisive at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea were almost punished for missing a string of other chances when Southampton substitute Charlie Austin twice went close to equalising after the break.
The victory puts Chelsea level on points with second-placed Manchester United until their game against West Brom on Super Sunday, but Conte insists they need to be more ruthless in future.
"It was a difficult game," Conte told Sky Sports. "I think when you don't score the second goal you have to suffer because you are afraid. A corner, a free kick, and your opponent can score.
"I think that we dominated the game. We shot 28 times but only eight on target and one onto the post. I think we have to score the second goal to be more relaxed."
As well as Pedro's shot against the post, Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster made diving saves from Alonso, N'Golo Kante and substitutes Cesc Fabregas and Alvaro Morata.
"We had a lot of chances to score but the goalkeeper was very good," added Conte. "I think we must be happy for the performance to keep the clean sheet.
"My only worry in this type of the game is to score more goals. But if you shoot only twice and score two goals, I think you must be worried.
"Instead, we created many chances, we shot a lot of times. But at the same time we must be more accurate in our finishing."
Chelsea have now won eight of their last 10 Premier League games and Conte is please with their overall progress. "If you consider the last 10 games, you understand that we are doing our job," he said.
