Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admits Manchester United deserve to win Premier League title

Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea

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By Greg Stobart at Old Trafford

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted Manchester United deserve to win the title after Sir Alex Ferguson‘s side all but clinched the Premier League crown with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Sunday.

United’s win over the Blues moved them six points clear at the top ot the table and the Red Devils have two games to register the one point that will clinch the club’s 19th top flight title.

Ancelotti was in gracious mood as he acknowledged United were the best team over the course of the season and has urged his players to make sure they finish second.

“Manchester United played better than us,” said the Italian to reporters. “They deserved to win this game and they deserve to win the title this year. They played better than the other teams.

“In general, they played good football and with more continuity during this season. That’s why they have six more points than us.

“I want to say thanks to the players because for two months we were the best team in the Premier League, but today we didn’t do our best.

“They need a point to win the title. We want to win our last two games and finish second in the table.”

United made a storming start as Javier Hernandez opened the scoring for the hosts after just 36 seconds before Nemanja Vidic doubled the advantage in the 23rd minute. Frank Lampard pulled a goal back for Chelsea but Ancelotti conceded his side lost the game with a sloppy start.

“Today was a strange game because we conceded a goal after one minute and we were not able to clear our heads,” he added.

“We gave Manchester United the first-half. We tried to play with more power and pressure in the second half. We scored a goal but it was really difficult to win.

“To win here we needed a different performance right from the start of the game.”

The Chelsea coach hauled off January signing David Luiz at half-time and revealed he was so angry with the Blues’ display in the opening period that he wished he could have substituted the whole team.

He continued: “I was not happy. I took him out at the end of the first-half but I wanted to make 10 or 11 substitutions. Sometimes it can happen.

“I don’t want to be angry because the reason we were fighting for the title was because the players have done really well.”