SOCCER:Jose Mourinho last night insisted that the present eight-point gap between Manchester United and Chelsea at the top of the Premiership will inevitably be closed.
The champions retained their unbeaten home record in the Premiership since Mourinho took over in the summer of 2004 thanks only to Michael Essien's brilliant 35-yard equaliser six minutes from time after Mathieu Flamini's 78th-minute strike looked to have given Arsenal victory.
The Chelsea manager admitted to his disappointment at the failure to make more than one of their 20 shots on goal count against Arsenal yesterday but insisted Chelsea would bounce back quickly with Newcastle United's visit to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
"Alex Ferguson must be happy now, because you can say we dropped two points," Mourinho said. "But if he thinks it's over he's in trouble, because it's not over. Chelsea is ready.
"We have shown we are ready. We were losing at home with five minutes to go and we showed an incredible reaction from being 1-0 behind.
"I think after Wednesday we will be five points behind and what is five points in a long Premiership season?"
Essien's exquisite strike delivered Chelsea's deserved point, but Mourinho believes Arsenal were guilty of the kind of negative football they find so frustrating themselves when smaller teams travel to the Emirates Stadium.
Indeed Mourinho even hinted that Arsène Wenger's team might deliberately have been playing into Ferguson's hands.
"It is very funny, very enjoyable to see this kind of co-operation when a big team comes to Stamford Bridge and is very happy with a point," said Mourinho.
"Quality of football, they had. Organisation, they had. Control of possession, they had. But ambition to win? No. Only one team tried to win."
Wenger responded by saying that pragmatism was required with an "under-21" defence that needed protection.
"We are frustrated, because we wanted to win the game," he said, adding that the exasperation was exacerbated by a suspicion that Ashley Cole had fouled Alexander Hleb in the build-up to Chelsea's equaliser.
"When we lost against Fulham, we showed a response against Tottenham. We went to Porto and we could not afford to lose the game.
"When I talked of a 'moment of truth' for Arsenal's season there was a chance we would not win any of them.
"We have character. And when you have character you have a chance, especially when you have talent as well."
Cole was booed throughout by the Arsenal fans in his first match against his former club since his acrimonious move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Mourinho was happy with Cole's display, but felt it had been hampered by the booking referee Alan Wiley gave him midway through the first half.
Mourinho continued: "It was a good performance. When you get a yellow card so early, you are on edge and you have to control yourself."
Guardian Service
