EPL title race wide open, says shocked Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte

London: Antonio Conte admitted Chelsea's shock 2-1 defeat against Crystal Palace has blown the Premier League title race wide open. Conte's side went into Saturday's clash with relegation-threatened Palace sitting 10 points clear at the top of the table and having won their previous 13 fixtures at Stamford Bridge.

Cesc Fabregas had put Chelsea ahead after five minutes, but Zaha equalised four minutes later and Benteke gave Palace a lead they would hold onto in the 11th minute.

Chelsea found their lead cut to seven points with nine games remaining. And Blues boss Conte conceded the battle is back on, with his players needing to bounce back when Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge in midweek. "For others this is a good result. It makes it more interesting, the championship," Conte said.

"But I always said that the league finishes when it is mathematically sure you have won. Otherwise you must play every game to try to win because, I repeat, in England easy games do not exist. We have to play on Wednesday against Man City and we all know the strength of this team. But, now, the most important thing is to recover very well and rest. It's important to prepare in the right way for this game, but in England, there are no easy games."