Chelsea 3 Sunderland 1
Loic Remy’s second-half double ensured champions Chelsea were able to celebrate lifting the Premier League trophy with a victory at Stamford Bridge, where Didier Drogba was given a rousing send-off.
Drogba, who announced before the game that he will leave the club this summer, was given a standing ovation when he was carried off by his team-mates after 30 minutes in a show of respect for the Blues legend.
Chelsea were 1-0 down at the time but his replacement Diego Costa scored from the penalty spot and fellow substitute Remy struck twice, meaning Chelsea maintained their eight-point advantage over second-placed Manchester City.
The home side responded strongly to Steven Fletcher’s 26th-minute header from Adam Johnson’s corner and certainly posed more of a threat with Costa up front.
Within seven minutes the Spain international made his mark when he tucked away his penalty after Juan Cuadrado was tripped by John O’Shea.
The Black Cats argued that the offence was outside the area but Costa did not let the protests affect him, calmly slotting his 20th Premier League goal of the season in to the bottom corner.
Before then Branislav Ivanovic, who like John Terry and Eden Hazard maintained his 100% record for league starts this season, had a decent claim for a penalty and also saw a fierce long-range strike pushed over by goalkeeper Vito Mannone.
But Petr Cech, on what could well be his final Chelsea appearance, was the busier keeper and had to make several fairly routine saves.
However, Chelsea began to take control after the interval.
Remy, on for the injured Cuadrado, saw a shot deflected wide after great work by Willian and Costa, and Nemanja Matic headed just over from the resulting corner.
Gary Cahill also wasted a decent chance, but the pressure told when Hazard’s trickery and awareness freed up space for Remy who deceived Mannone with a low strike.
And the Frenchman’s ninth goal of the season made it 3-1 when he turned in Matic’s low cross with two minutes to go.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Mikel (Christensen 78), Matic; Cuadrado (Remy 43), Willian, Hazard; Drogba (Costa 30).
Subs not used: Courtois, Luis, Solanke, Boga.
Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook
This post was last modified on 25/05/2015