Monday 27 April 2015 23:38, UK
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 six more points to be crowned Premier League champions for the first time in five years, but were jeered in Sunday's 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.”
