Chelsea captain John Terry said he believes his side have kept the pressure on their title rivals with a 1-0 victory over Swansea on Sunday at the Liberty Stadium.
Liverpool's dramatic 3-2 win against third-place Manchester City saw Brendan Rodgers's men temporarily pull five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, but Chelsea cut that gap to two points by downing Swansea through Demba Ba's second-half strike in south Wales.
Centre-back Terry, who watched counterpart Chico Flores pick up a red card after 16 minutes, said Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho demanded that his players ignore the result at Anfield to focus on their own performances.
“We obviously knew about it and looking at the result, it’s probably the one we wanted,” Terry said. “It was important, as the manager said before the game, that we knew that regardless of that result, if we don’t win our games, we’ll make it very easy for them.
“But we’ve won our game and the pressure is still on the teams above and below us. Patience was the key today, especially after they had their man sent off not long into the game.
“Sometimes we weren’t patient or at our best, but we got the three points today and we’ll take them home.”
Senegalese striker Ba, who scored the goal that ensured Chelsea's progression to the Uefa Champions League semi-finals at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, was pleased to make another winning contribution after spending much of the season on Mourinho's bench.
“Not a bad week,” he said. “I’m happy for the team, for me and for my family.
“I never stopped believing. I knew that the manager always likes to keep three strikers and, in a moment like this, I knew I would get the opportunity to come in and do something.”
Swansea coach Garry Monk was disappointed his side – now three points clear of the relegation zone – failed to take anything from the game but praised their attitude.
Ba’s goal arrived in the 68th minute, after the striker capitalised on a fortuitous deflection off home defender Ashley Williams. Monk said there were “too many mistakes” in the build-up.
“Obviously, it doesn’t help going down to 10 men against a Chelsea side who have good players, but I thought we were great today,” he said. “We managed to get through to half time and rearranged a little bit, and the commitment and desire to stay in that game and not be beaten was there in abundance.
“Unfortunately, it was a poor goal for us, a few too many mistakes and we should have saved it. But I can’t have too many complaints, they were very good.
“I think we deserved it for the effort we put in: the defending, the bodies, people throwing themselves on the line, that’s what you need. I think that’s what you need in the situation we are now in.
“Now we have to dust ourselves down and take that attitude into the last four games.”
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