Chelsea notches up 12 consecutive wins

Chelsea notches up 12 consecutive wins. December. 28, 2016 07:06. by Seung-Kun Lee why@donga.com. Chelsea, led by coach Antonio Conte (47), has achieved 12 wins in a row in the English Premier League. Chelsea never has recorded twelve straight wins in its 111-year history since the club was founded in 1905 and is now two wins behind the league-record of 14 consecutive wins.

Chelsea beat Bournemouth 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in London on Tuesday in the absence of this season’s Premier League top scorer Diego Costa and N'Golo Kante, who were both suspended for accumulation of yellow cards. Conte’s 12 consecutive wins has broken the club’s previous records. Chelsea claimed a club-record of 11 consecutive wins in 2009 under Guus Hiddink, interim coach for the 2008/2009 season, and Carlo Ancelotti, coach for the 2009/2010 season. Hiddink finished the season with a run of five consecutive victories and Ancelotti, picking up the team after Hiddink, stared the season with six straight wins, beating the previous club-record of 10 successive wins under Jose Mourinho (current Manchester United coach) in the 2005/2006 season.

Chelsea has become the third team recording 12 consecutive wins in the history of the English Premier League. Manchester United had 12 straight wins in 2000 and Arsenal had incredible 13 straight wins in 2002. Furthermore, Arsenal finished the 2001/2002 with 13 straight wins and added one win at the opening game of the 2002/2003 season, achieving the EPL-record of 14 straight wins. Chelsea needs two more wins to set a new EPL record of the longest winning streak in one season as Arsenal’s record of 14 straight wins was achieved over two seasons. Chelsea, leading the league with 46 points (15 victories, 1 draw and 2 losses), will face Stoke City, staying in the 12th of the league table with 21 points (5 victories, 6 draws and 6 losses), at Stamford Bridge on January 1. It seems that Chelsea has a high chance of winning against Stoke City. Chelsea will clash with fifth-place Tottenham (33 points from 9 victories, 6 draws and 2 losses), a club of Son Heung-min, aiming a second EPL-record of the longest winning streak.

After winning the English Premier League in the 2014/2015 season, Chelsea dropped to the bottom last year, staying at the 15th place among 20 rivals. At the risk of being close to the relegation zone, Chelsea asked Hiddink to be a coach of the club, who managed the club successfully in the 2008/2009 season as interim coach. Under Hiddink’s spell, Chelsea managed to climb up and finished the season at 10th place. Hiddink was replaced by Antonio Conte, former player and coach at Italian soccer club Juventus. Conte led Juventus to win three Serie A titles for three years in a row from the 2011/2012 season.