Football: Chelsea win fight and Mourinho says put your shirt on us for title

THAT JOSE MOURINHO felt it necessary to join his team in front of the away end and order his players to fling their black shirts into the mass of Chelsea's support tells you that this was no routine victory at Ewood Park. It was, Mourinho said, a "fight - not a football match, and we fought", and when the dust had settled on their eighth consecutive Premiership win, Chelsea's lead at the top had increased to 11 points.

The fifth-minute goal from Arjen Robben, and a crucial penalty save by Petr Cech, were the outstanding individual contributions for Chelsea, but it was the force with which Blackburn flew into the tackle that consumed Mourinho. The Portuguese coach has not made a friend in Mark Hughes, whose hand he failed to shake at full-time, and the Blackburn manager will not find his opposite number's assessment of the match easy reading.

Mourinho was insistent that Blackburn "could not beat us by football" so resorted to an approach pioneered by the