Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho hails team performance and Cesar Azpilicueta after win over Manchester United

Jose Mourinho has hailed his 'fantastic' Chelsea team following the 1-0 victory over Manchester United, singling out Cesar Azpilicueta as his man of the match.

Although United largely dominated possession at Stamford Bridge, the Blues secured three points thanks to Eden Hazard's first-half goal to move 10 points clear at the top of the table with just six games remaining.

And Mourinho was left delighted with the team performance as they denied United, claiming it was exactly the game he had planned.

"The team were fantastic. I'm the one that knows how fantastic they were because the game was exactly what we wanted. When you manage to play the game you want to play, it's fantastic. The players were magnificent, on top of that Eden had that magic the top players have, especially in big matches," Mourinho said post-match.

"Obviously Hazard was fundamental for us but Cahill made an amazing block on Falcao, John Terry was amazing, the keeper was there for us all the time, Azpilicueta was for me the best player on the pitch and Ivanovic was fantastic.

"Matic worked like an animal, Zouma put Fellaini out of the game, our number 11 [Drogba] was another animal, fighting against two kids young enough to be his sons. Hazard was what you know, Oscar worked fantastically well, Ramires came in and gave us what we needed, Mikel came in for two minutes and held the ball."

But looking ahead to his side's next next Premier League match at Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, the Chelsea manager refused to accept that the title is already in their hands.

Asked whether the game at North London is crucial, he said:
"It's three more points.

"Obviously every point we get now, every victory we get, is one step in the title direction.

'We need to win matches. What we can say is that we play for nine points at home, we can be champions just from the matches we play at home. But obviously if we can get points away it's better."