Jose Mourinho rubbishes claims his Chelsea side won 'ugly' at Liverpool

By Carl Markham, Press Association

Published: 13:26 EDT, 27 April 2014 | Updated: 13:26 EDT, 27 April 2014

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was unrepentant about his tactics at Liverpool as his team secured a 2-0 win over the Premier League leaders that blew open the title race.

A mistake by Steven Gerrard let Demba Ba in for the opener in added time at the end of the first half, and with seconds remaining substitute Willian added a second goal on the break.

The visitors successfully stifled Liverpool's attacking flair with Mourinho's side employing every trick in the book to slow down play but it more than paid off as the usually free-scoring Reds ran out of ideas.

Rubbished: Mourinho claims he is confused by the thought his Chelsea side were negative at Anfield

Delighted: John Obi Mikel celebrates in front of the Liverpool supporters after Demba Ba's first half opener

'The best team won, in my opinion,' said Mourinho. 'Defensive display? I am a bit confused what the media thinks about defensive displays.

'When a team defends well you call it a defensive display. When a team defends badly and concedes two or three goals you don't consider it a defensive display.

'When Liverpool started to put balls in the air for Mark (Schwarzer), (Gary) Cahill and (Branislav) Ivanovic they were like in fish in water because it was so easy for them.

'The team played brilliantly. Every player was magnificent. No mistakes. I think it was a fantastic performance by my players.

'I am not looking for credit. I am very happy with my players, they know how pleased I am with their work and that is what they need from me.

'Time-wasting. What's that? You never spoke about this when we played lot of matches this season.'

Nicely put away: Ba calmly put Chelsea ahead as they tried to strange the life out of Liverpool

The win moved Chelsea to two points behind Liverpool at the top of the table. Manchester City, with a match in hand, stand just a point further behind after their win at Crystal Palace, and have the superior goal difference.

It appears the title race will go down to the wire but Mourinho does not consider his team to be contenders.

'There is no chance. We were waiting for this match to be the title match (decider) for a long time but for some reason this match didn't become the title match,' he added.

'It was three important points and we need one more to finish third and if we finish third we are in the Champions League automatically.

Gutted: Gerrard's attempts to make amends for his error got ever more desperate as the game wore on

Dream over? The Liverpool captain stares blankly ahead after what proved to a decisive strike

'A champion is only one team so we don't want a trophy to finish third but we can say we won both matches against the champion as we won both against Liverpool and against City.'

Gerrard's slip in possession just inside his own half that allowed Ba in to score proved the key moment of the match but Mourinho, who revealed captain John Terry has a chance of being fit for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, took no pleasure in that.

'Nobody enjoys it when someone makes a big mistake,' Mourinho added.

'We enjoy it because it gave us a goal but no-one like someone to make a mistake in that situation.

'I prefer to say Demba Ba was fantastic in front of the goalkeeper.'

All over: Mourinho pumps his fists as Chelsea fans celebrate the second goal to seal the win