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Branislav Ivanovic: 'Chelsea will not let Manchester City back into title race'

Branislav Ivanovic says that it is up to Chelsea to ensure that their hefty lead over title challengers Manchester City remains intact between now and the end of the season.

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has reiterated the importance of his side showing a ruthless streak for the remainder of the season in order to storm their way to the Premier League title.

The Blues remain five points clear of Manchester City at the summit courtesy of last night's hard-fought 1-0 win against West Ham United, with a game in hand still to play over their rivals.

However, champions City have pegged Jose Mourinho's men back once already this campaign, making up an eight-point deficit following a strong run of form, although Ivanovic says that Chelsea have now learned lessons from the past.

"It's for us to keep the big gap and not give them the chance to close it again," The Mirror quotes him as saying. "We are one step closer, but still it's a long way.

"We are growing as a team and we learn from our mistakes. That's how we know how every game and every situation is very important. This team is slowly growing together and giving good performances, even when we have a bad day we get some points and win some games."

Chelsea are back in league action in 10 days' time when they take on European-chasing Southampton, but before then they must tackle Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

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Eden Hazard of Chelsea turns away to celebrate after scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match against West Ham on March 4, 2015
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
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2Arsenal281510352242855
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest28156745331251
4Chelsea28147753361749
5Manchester CityMan City28145953381547
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2814594738947
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton28121064640646
8Aston Villa2912984145-445
9Bournemouth28128847341344
10Fulham2811984138342
11Crystal Palace2810993633339
12Brentford28115124844438
13Tottenham HotspurSpurs281041455411434
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd2897123440-634
15Everton2871293135-433
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2896133248-1633
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2865173857-1923
18Ipswich TownIpswich2838172658-3217
19Leicester CityLeicester2845192562-3717
20Southampton2823232068-489


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