Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has defended striker Fernando Torres following his horror miss against Manchester United, and feels his side are still title contenders.
The Spanish forward has been the subject of criticism due to uninspiring performances since his £50 million move from Liverpool in January, and despite scoring in a 3-1 defeat on Sunday, missed a second clear-cut chance.
Torres rounded Reds goalkeeper David de Gea in the 83rd minute, only to slice his effort wide of the post; but the Portuguese coach has come to his defence, comparing the miss to Wayne Rooney failing to convert a penalty in the game.
“You have to be fair that the best world strikers have both missed great opportunities. It happened to Fernando but it happened to Wayne Rooney, too,” he told reporters after the game.
“But, yes, a 3-2 score at that period of the game would give us a mental edge for the rest of the match.”
The victory has extended United’s unbeaten run to five matches, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are now top of the league, five points clear of Chelsea.
Despite this, Villas Boas has still backed the Stamford Bridge club to be in the title run come the end of the season.
“What I can say is that last year we started very well and unfortunately it didn’t happen towards the winter period,” he told Sky Sports.
“This way at the moment we are five points behind Man Utd but we could say we wouldn’t expect Man City to lose points at Fulham, so this Premier League is unpredictable.
“We always consider ourselves title contenders and will have to get three points straightaway against Swansea because it gives us a good mental reaction to a defeat. And it’s important for us to continue to believe in our work.
“They are in a good position now but it is very, very early. Nothing that would happen here will mean anything in the Premier League table, and today, not that I want to overemphasise it, you had Man City going to Fulham and Fulham getting a point.
“Arsenal lost and Liverpool lost, so all five contenders are there and anything can happen. The most regular has been United but we showed we are up to the levels of the champions – it is just this time this game didn’t go our way but we will be up there competing for the title and I am glad Sir Alex corroborates in this opinion,” he concluded.
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