Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho dismissed his side's Premier League title hopes despite moving joint-second in the table following victory over Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on Monday. The Blues ended City's 100% home record with a 1-0 win thanks to Branislav Ivanovic and also became the first side since Everton in 2010-11 to do the double over the Citizens in the league. They are just two points behind table-toppers Arsenal and have the best defensive record in the topflight, but Mourinho doesn't think his side will win the Premiership this term. The self-styled 'Special One' hailed his side's performance but does not believe they are better than City and believes his team have more chance of winning the league next season. Mourinho said of Chelsea's title hopes in his post-match press conference: "We are there, but not favorites. For the team it's very important, the feeling is fantastic feeling for them. Today we won because we were the best team, not better than them but today they were fabulous. "It is not our objective to win (the title this season), our objective is to build the team and complete the formation of the players. "I want to start next preseason and say this season we are going to compete and be one of the favorites." Ivanovic scored the only goal of a fiercely-contested game at Etihad Stadium on Monday night after driving home from the edge of the penalty area, City had chances to get back into the game but out of 25 shots on goal only three found their target, and leading goal-scorer Sergio Aguero, out for a month, was badly missed. Chelsea though were good value for their win and struck the woodwork three times, and though they saw less possession of the ball, defended in numbers to deny their free-scoring rivals. The two sides will next meet in 12 days' time, as they have also been drawn in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
