
Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho laughed off the Arsenal crowd's "boring" jibes by
reminding the Gunners of their wait for the Premier League title as his side
closed in on the trophy.
The Blues need five more points to be crowned Premier League champions for
the first time in five years, but were jeered in the goalless draw at the
Emirates Stadium for a stubborn performance which frustrated Arsenal, who
last won the title in 2003-04.
"You know, I think boring is 10 years without a title. That's very boring,"
Mourinho said.
"You support the club and you're waiting, waiting, waiting for so many years
without a Premier League title, so that's very boring.
"But maybe they were not singing to us. Maybe, when you want to win a game
and you're at home and you take your number nine (Olivier Giroud) off, maybe
the home fans want more.
"Maybe they want to play Giroud and (Danny) Welbeck together up front to try
to win the game."
The goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium means Chelsea can claim a fourth
Premier League crown – their first in five years – with victories over
Leicester and Crystal Palace in their next two games.
And Mourinho believes his side, who were led by the talismanic John Terry,
are well poised to go on and seal the title after an excellent defensive
display kept the league’s form team at bay.
“My team performed very, very well against a good team,” he told
Sky Sports.
“Arsenal had nothing to lose and everything to win. They knew their position
in second was safe after Manchester United’s defeat.
“The team was very compact and we went to the game plan. The game was under
control we played really well in possession. Defensively we played really
well as well.
“I was telling John [Terry] in the dressing room out of all the performances
he’s given me in six years that was the best performance I’ve ever seen from
a defensive point of view.
“His defensive performance was absolutely amazing.
“We are in a countdown now. The team is really confident and playing
extremely well so we know the title is in our hands.
“We have a distance of 10 points between second and third and there are only
15 points to play for so we are confident.”
Chelsea had three penalty claims turned down at the Emirates Stadium by
referee Michael Oliver.
Despite this, Mourinho declined to comment on the referee’s display,
focusing instead on his side’s performance.
“I don’t comment. I prefer to forget the penalties and focus on the overall
performance,” he added.
“The game was a difficult game, it was fast it had danger in both ends and I
think Oliver and his assistants had a good performance, forgetting the
penalty appeals.
“If John Terry made a mistake, his performance would still be amazing
despite the mistake. And the referee had a very good performance with a
couple of mistakes.”