A moment of individual brilliance from Diego Costa was enough to secure a 1-0 win over West Brom to send Chelsea three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
With Chelsea struggling for inspiration, Costa stole possession off of Gareth McAuley on the flank and bent a stunning strike into the top left-hand corner of Ben Foster's net with 14 minutes left on the clock at Stamford Bridge for their ninth league win in a row to retake pole position from London rivals Arsenal.
Chelsea laboured in the opening exchanges as Tony Pulis' Baggies offered a determied rearguard action, with the visitors switching to a back six whenever they lost possession to deny the Blues.
Conte's men departed to boos at half-time with the Stamford Bridge crowd clearly frustrated with West Brom's tactics - with four players booked - as Eden Hazard felt the full force of Gareth McAuley challenge to leave the Belgian star limping.
West Brom went close through Salomon Rondon, but it was was more of the same after the break as Chelsea went in search of the win as Pulis' men held firm - until a crucial mistake from McAuley, that is.
The West Brom defender should have cleared the ball on the flank, but instead tried to take on Costa.
That allowed the Spanish striker to steal the ball and curl a delightful finish past Foster for his sixth goal in his last nine efforts on goal, with Conte's men seeing out the match to make it 27 points from a possible 27 since a switch to the 3-4-3 formation.
