With a tenacious defensive display, Chelsea held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw on Sunday to close in on their first Premier League title in five years.
Aside from penalty decisions not going Chelsea’s way, the only thing that frustrated coach Jose Mourinho at the Emirates Stadium was the chant from Arsenal fans at the end: “Boring, boring Chelsea.”
Chelsea are 10 points clear of defending champions Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the table with five games to go and Mourinho was quick to remind Arsenal fans after the match that they have not won the title since 2003-2004.
Photo: AFP
Chelsea have won the league three times since then, with the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 titles coming in Mourinho’s first reign.
“You support a club and you are waiting, waiting, waiting and for so many years without a Premier League title,” Mourinho said. “I think that is very boring,”
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal had nothing to brag about on Sunday after a 3-0 defeat at Everton.
Photo: EPA
The heaviest in the league of Van Gaal’s first season in charge left United in fourth place, but still on course for UEFA Champions League qualification.
Chelsea are 12 points in front of United and can seal the title with victories over Leicester City tomorrow and Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Injuries to strikers Didier Drogba and Loic Remy forced Mourinho to start without a recognized forward at the Emirates, with Oscar often the most advanced player in the first half.
However, the midfielder made way for striker Didier Drogba at halftime as a precaution following a clash after 15 minutes.
After the Brazilian lobbed David Ospina, the Arsenal goalkeeper clattered into him. Chelsea’s doctor came onto the pitch to attend to Oscar, but the playmaker returned to action and was only substituted at halftime.
Mourinho said Oscar went to a hospital because “we were a bit scared,” but when asked if the player suffered concussion in the collision, Mourinho replied: “I don’t know.”
Arsenal could not exploit Chelsea’s injury problems, only managing one shot on target when Mesut Ozil’s effort was collected by Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
It left Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger without a victory in 13 attempts against Mourinho’s Chelsea.
“In the first half, we had the right intensity,” Wenger said.
“We dropped that in the second half and came back into the right level for the last 20 minutes. We could have finished the game off... but they came to defend well, and they did that well and everybody knows that,” he said.
At Goodison Park, Van Gaal accused his United players of lacking motivation after they slumped to a second successive defeat following the previous weekend’s setback at Chelsea.
James McCarthy netted the opener after five minutes between goalkeeper David de Gea’s legs after skipping through weak challenges by Paddy McNair and Daley Blind. John Stones doubled the lead in the 35th minute by heading in a Leighton Baines corner, before Kevin Mirallas rounded off the victory in the 74th.
“This is the first match that the other team have shown more fighting spirit than us,” Van Gaal said.
“Our motivation, inspiration and aggression was not as high as the opponent. I had already the feeling, and my colleagues [assistants] Ryan Giggs and Albert Stuivenberg had the feeling because the warm up was not so good as usual,” he said. “In the last minutes before the game you hope you can recover and stimulate your players, but then it is too late.”
Everton, who are undefeated in six matches, moved into the top 10.
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