REACTION: MOMENT OF TRIUMPH
After a game that belied a double-figure points gap between the two sides, Carlo Ancelotti warned his players off thinking too much about chasing Manchester United and told them to concentrate on turning consecutive victories into a winning run.
Chelsea's hopes of adding to the good performance in Copenhagen with a commanding display against the league leaders were floundering as the team lost their way after a promising opening to Tuesday night's game at Stamford Bridge, and trailed to a Wayne Rooney goal at half-time.
But then David Luiz and Frank Lampard had their say to lift the Blues back into the top four once more and close the gap on Alex Ferguson's side.
'It is too far,' Ancelotti said about the summit of the league table, 'but the victory was good for our confidence.
'We have to respect the table and Man United have played with more consistency compared with us. We are not able to think about arriving at the top at this moment.
'It was a very difficult game against a fantastic team. Man United showed their fantastic quality in the first half and we started well the first half but in the middle of it we had difficulty to close their play.
'The second half was much better and we were able to play with more intensity.
'We started the game well because we were fast in transition and we had some chances to score - the first through Malouda, and at half-time I said that is the right way to play but for 45 minutes, not just 15 minutes.
'It was not easy to come back in that game,' the Chelsea manager continued, 'above all against Man United who are fantastic at counter attack. We used a good balance second half, putting more pressure in front and using our strength in the middle of the pitch.'
For the third game running Ancelotti lined his side up with a 4-4-2 shape and a flat midfield four. It might have led to problems at times, not least when Rooney found space between the Chelsea defence and midfield to score from distance, but it worked in our favour in other ways.
'We wanted to play this shape because we thought we would have more possibility to put pressure in the middle of the pitch and our aim was not to give them the possibility to play easily. It was much better in the second half.'
His only change from the Copenhagen game was to bring back David Luiz. Ferguson claimed the Brazilian should have been shown a second yellow card in the second half, a fate suffered by his own centre-back Nemanja Vidic on the night. The Man U boss also questioned the penalty decision that led to Lampard's late winner.
'It was a very tough game because there were a lot of tackles and the ref took some tough decisions,' noted Ancelotti, 'but I don't want to judge this.
'David Luiz's performance was very good following the good performance he did against Fulham. It was a very important goal and the key to the game.
'The moment is good and we have to continue because every moment will be very important for the Premier League and the Champions League.
'The team tonight showed good spirit. The players always stay together in the good moment and in the bad moment it is the same.'
No comments:
Post a Comment