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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
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton136522217523
4Chelsea126422314922
5Arsenal126422112922
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton1312101025-155


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