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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
1Liverpool23175156213556
2Arsenal24148249222750
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest24145540271347
4Chelsea24127547311643
5Manchester CityMan City24125748351341
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle24125742291341
7Bournemouth24117641281340
8Aston Villa2410773437-337
9Fulham249963632436
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2481063538-334
11Brentford2494114242031
12Crystal Palace247982830-230
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2485112834-629
14Tottenham HotspurSpurs24831348371127
15West Ham UnitedWest Ham2476112946-1727
16Everton236892328-526
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2454153452-1819
18Leicester CityLeicester2445152553-2817
19Ipswich TownIpswich2437142249-2716
20Southampton2423191854-369


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