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How Chelsea won the 2014-15 Premier League title

:Headline: How Chelsea won the 2014-15 Premier League title: ID:220962: from db_amp
Sports Mole takes a look at how Chelsea were able to win a first Premier League title for five years.

Yesterday's 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace secured Chelsea a first Premier League title since 2010.

It's the third that the Blues have won under the management of Jose Mourinho, who is now in his second spell with the West Londoners.

Here, Sports Mole has reflected on how Mourinho's men ensured that they would finish top of the pile with three matches to spare.

August 18, 2014: Burnley 1-3 Chelsea

Following his exploits in Spain with Atletico Madrid the previous season, much was expected of Diego Costa following his summer move to the capital.

It took the striker just 17 minutes to open his account at Turf Moor, which cancelled out Scott Arfield's early goal for the newly-promoted Clarets. Andre Schurrle, from a fantastic Cesc Fabregas pass, and Branislav Ivanovic sealed an opening-day victory for the pre-season title favourites.

August 23, 2014: Chelsea 2-0 Leicester City

In what was a subdued performance by the Blues, Costa scored again on his home debut, before Eden Hazard sealed the points against a Leicester side, who like Burnley, had just been promoted to the Premier League.

However, Chelsea were indebted to their goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois as the young Belgian made a string of important saves.

August 30, 2014: Everton 3-6 Chelsea

On what was quite frankly a manic match on Merseyside, Chelsea and hosts Everton shared nine goals. Two of them were scored by the in-form Costa, while Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic and Ramires also weighed in.

Home defender Seamus Coleman put through his own net, while former Blues striker Samuel Eto'o found the net for Everton, as did Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith.

September 13, 2014: Chelsea 4-2 Swansea City

In just his fourth outing as a Chelsea player, Costa took his tally to seven goals by scoring a hat-trick against Swansea.

A John Terry own goal had seen the hosts fall behind in the 11th minute, with Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey completing the scoring after Loic Remy had scored his first goal in Chelsea colours.

September 21, 2014: Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea

Having scored so many important goals down the years for Chelsea, it was almost inevitable that Frank Lampard would return to haunt his former employers.

Coming off the bench in the sky blue of champions Man City, he volleyed home five minutes from time to peg back Chelsea, who had taken the lead through Schurrle at the Etihad Stadium.

September 27, 2014: Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa

Costa's clinical form continued when Villa made the trip to Stamford Bridge as the Spaniard fired in his eighth goal of the campaign.

The scoring was completed by Oscar and Willian - goals which were a first of the season in the Premier League for the creative Brazilian duo.

October 5, 2014: Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Mourinho had never lost in his 11 previous meetings with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and that wasn't about to change. In fact, the pair would end up clashing on the touchline.

On the pitch, Hazard converted a first-half penalty that he had won, before Costa made sure of the outcome when he beat the offside trap 12 minutes from the end.

October 18, 2014: Crystal Palace 1-2 Chelsea

With Costa ruled out through injury, Oscar took over the goalscoring mantle as he found the net with a stunning early strike.

Fabregas's first Premier League goal for the club then made sure of the outcome, rendering Fraizer Campbell's late goal a consolation. On the negative side, full-back Cesar Azpilicueta was red carded.

October 26, 2014: Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea

Robin van Persie had made a habit of scoring goals against Chelsea since moving to England and he continued that Old Trafford.

It seemed that Chelsea were heading for all three points thanks to Didier Drogba's first goal since his return, but United's Dutch striker powered in during stoppage time to leave Mourinho frustrated.

November 1, 2014: Chelsea 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

After a four-game injury absence, Costa was back in the Chelsea team, but he didn't trouble the scoresheet.

That responsibility was left to Oscar and Hazard, who scored either side of a smartly flicked effort from QPR centre-forward Charlie Austin.

November 8, 2014: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea

During the previous campaign, Chelsea had parked the proverbial bus at Anfield. This time around, though, they outplayed their hosts, who took the lead through Emre Can's deflected effort.

Gary Cahill and Costa scored either side of the break to secure a comeback win for the away side, but they were fortunate not to have conceded a late penalty when Cahill appeared to have blocked Steven Gerrard's shot with his arm.

November 22, 2014: Chelsea 2-0 West Bromwich Albion

This encounter was done and dusted within the opening half an hour. Costa and Hazard did the damage, before West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob was sent off on what was his first Premier League start of the season.

As for Chelsea, they had now gone 12 league matches without defeat from the start of the season, which was a club record.

November 29, 2014: Sunderland 0-0 Chelsea

In what was a largely unremarkable game at the Stadium of Light, Costa collected his fifth booking of the campaign, which would see him banned for the home match against Tottenham.

The hosting Black Cats became just the third side to stop Chelsea winning.

December 3, 2014: Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

On their previous 22 Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, Spurs had been on unable to claim a victory.

After Harry Kane had headed against the crossbar early on, that run would be extended to 23 matches. Hazard, Drogba and Remy were the players that scored the Chelsea goals to keep their side six points clear at the top.

December 6, 2014: Newcastle United 2-1 Chelsea

On Tyneside, Chelsea's 23-game unbeaten run in all competitions was ended by Papiss Cisse and Newcastle.

The Senegalese forward struck twice in the second half and while Drogba pulled one back and home defender Steven Taylor was sent off, the Blues couldn't rescue a share of the spoils, even with six minutes of stoppage time.

December 13, 2014: Chelsea 2-0 Hull City

It was by no means pretty, but Chelsea returned to winning ways against Hull, who had Tom Huddlestone dismissed.

Hazard opened the scoring with just seven minutes on the clock and Costa made sure of the outcome in the 68th minute. There was controversy, though, as both Willian and Costa were booked for diving, while Cahill was lucky to escape a red card for a challenge on Sone Aluko.

December 22, 2014: Stoke City 0-2 Chelsea

The evergreen Terry opened his account for the season in just the second minute at the Britannia Stadium, with Fabregas adding a second goal in the closing stages.

It was a result that ensured Chelsea would be top of the Premier League for the fourth time at Christmas.

December 26, 2014: Chelsea 2-0 West Ham United

It was a third 2-0 victory on the bounce for the Blues, which for the second game in succession was started by a goal from Terry.

Costa's 13th Premier League goal of the season sealed the win, meaning that West Ham had won just one of their previous 17 meetings with their London rivals.

December 28, 2014: Southampton 1-1 Chelsea

Chelsea found Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster in fine form down on the South Coast as the England international made a number of saves to deny the visitors.

As it was, Sadio Mane put the home team in front early on, with Hazard's 10th goal of the season just before the break securing a point.

January 1, 2015: Tottenham Hotspur 5-3 Chelsea

It was a miserable start to 2015 for the Blues, who were unable to cope with a Kane-inspired Spurs at White Hart Lane.

The young striker scored twice as the home side hit their visitors for five, which in turn saw Man City draw level at the top of the table.

January 10, 2015: Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle United

Having seen City drop points against Everton, the pressure was on Chelsea to win. They took the lead against the run of play through Oscar, but after that it was one-way traffic.

Costa scored once again in the second half to maintain Chelsea's 100% league record at home and in doing so, they opened up a two-point lead at the summit.

January 17, 2015: Swansea City 0-5 Chelsea

Not many sides win at the Liberty Stadium, but there was little Swansea could do to stop a rampant Chelsea side, who were 4-0 up by the break as Oscar and Costa helped themselves to doubles.

Schurrle added further gloss to the scoreline after the restart with what was his last Premier League goal for the club before he left for Wolfsburg.

January 31, 2015: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City

In what was their first Premier League outing since being embarrassed by Bradford City of League One in the FA Cup, Chelsea were frustrated once again.

Remy, in for the injured Costa, put the hosts in front, but David Silva equalised soon after. It meant that Chelsea's five-point lead remained in place.

February 7, 2015: Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea

Mourinho had never previously won at Villa Park, but Ivanovic's left-footed effort in the 66th minute ended the wait for his manager.

Hazard had earlier broken the deadlock, with centre-back Jores Okore scoring Villa's first goal in some 659 minutes.

February 11, 2015: Chelsea 1-0 Everton

Tim Howard was in great form at Stamford Bridge, but he could little to stop Willian's 89th-minute winner.

The Brazilian's low effort took a big deflection on its way to squeezing inside the near post, much to the delight of most of those inside the ground. It was a big blow for Everton, who moments earlier had lost Gareth Barry to a red card.

February 21, 2015: Chelsea 1-1 Burnley

A game that will be remembered for Ashley Barnes's potentially leg-breaking challenge on Matic. The Burnley midfielder escaped punishment, but Matic was dismissed for his reaction to the tackle.

As far as the game was concerned, Ivanovic gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead, but Ben Mee headed in late on as the hosts dropped two points.

March 4, 2015: West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea

In what was their first outing since winning the League Cup against Spurs, Chelsea were somewhat fortunate to leave Upton Park with all three points.

After Hazard had stooped to open the scoring, the Hammers created a number of chances, but failed to take any of them.

March 15, 2015: Chelsea 1-1 Southampton

For the second time this season, Ronald Koeman's men proved to be a tough nut to crack for Chelsea.

Costa headed the Blues into an early lead, but Dusan Tadic showed good composure from the penalty spot to ensure that has his team would be unbeaten against Chelsea.

March 22, 2015: Hull City 2-3 Chelsea

When Hazard and Costa put Chelsea two goals up within the opening nine minutes at the KC Stadium, it seemed to be a case of how many could the visitors score.

Yet, Ahmed Elmohamady pulled one back and then an error from Courtois allowed Abel Hernandez to equalise. The Chelsea keeper's blushes were spared, though, by Remy, who scored with his first touch in the 77th minute.

April 4, 2015: Chelsea 2-1 Stoke City

It was another vital win for Chelsea, with goals coming from Hazard and Remy.

However, it was a moment of magic from Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam that everyone will remember. Inside his own half, the Scot launched an audacious shot goalwards that got the better of a back-tracking Courtois.

April 12, 2015: Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Chelsea

Fabregas's influence tailed off after Christmas, but he made a vital contribution at Loftus Road as Chelsea went seven points clear.

The Spanish midfielder fired in the game's only goal two minutes from time. It ended up being the away side's only shot on target all match.

April 18, 2015: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

Chelsea had just 30% possession against United, but as Mourinho commented after the game, he didn't care how much of the ball that his side saw, just as long as they won.

They did just that thanks to Hazard, who slipped away from the United rearguard, before slotting his shot between David de Gea's legs.

April 26, 2015: Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

The away side left the Emirates Stadium to chants of "boring, boring Chelsea" from the Arsenal supporters, who were frustrated at their side's failure to break their rivals down.

The celebrations of the Chelsea players showed that they didn't care one bit - they were closing in on the title.

April 29, 2015: Leicester City 1-3 Chelsea

A lacklustre first-half showing saw Chelsea deservedly trail at the break to a Marc Albrighton goal.

A few home truths from their manager during the interval did the trick, though, as goals from Drogba, Terry and Ramires sparked the travelling faithful to sarcastically bellow "boring, boring Chelsea."

May 3, 2015: Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace

To Palace's credit, they did everything in their power to spoil the party at Stamford Bridge.

Yet, not for the first time, PFA Player of the Year Hazard was the hero for Chelsea as he scored the title-clinching goal with a header after his initial penalty had been saved.

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5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
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18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
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