N’Golo Kante’s magnificent performance against West Ham on Monday night added more weight to the argument that the Chelsea star is currently the best defensive midfielder on the planet.The France international bossed the Hammers throughout the 90 minutes and was rather unfortunate to miss out on the Man of the Match award.Eden Hazard was named as the game’s MotM for scoring the opening goal of the match and generally terrorising the West Ham defence, but Antonio Conte’s side would have endured a far tougher night without their indefatigable holding midfielder.Kante made more tackles and more interceptions than any of his teammates while only five of his 50 passes failed to find their intended target.This led Conte to joke in his post-match press conference that Kante needed to improve."He made five mistakes. He has to improve in this. He has to improve,” the Italian said with a smile on his face, per Sky Sports. "I am joking. But I have to find one situation to tell him to improve. He's playing really well."He has great stamina, great quality and we are working to improve that quality. I'm pleased for him, but all my players performed very well."

Watch: Obiang tests Kante

There was one particularly brilliant moment when Kante enthusiastically chased down his own pass - and, of course, he managed to keep the ball in play - while another clip of the Frenchman playing at the London Stadium also went viral on Monday night.

Pedro Obiang clearly fancied his chances of shielding the ball from Kante using his superior body weight.

Obiang weighs in at 75kg while Kante is 68kg, according to WhoScored.

However, Obiang soon regretted his decision. He was sent flying by Kante’s right thigh, much to the amusement of Chelsea fans watching on TV.

What a beast.

Reaction to Kante’s tackle on Obiang

Here’s how fans on Twitter reacted to Kante’s full-blooded challenge…

Kante and Chelsea expected to win the title

With a 10-point lead at the top of the table and only 11 matches remaining, Chelsea appear to have one hand on the Premier League trophy.

And it’s no coincidence how much the Blues have improved, and how far his former club Leicester City have fallen, since Kante completed his £32 million move from the King Power Stadium to Stamford Bridge last summer.