Jose Mourinho described Chelsea’s first-half display against West Brom as “beautiful”.
The Blues’ 2-0 victory was their sixth consecutive home league win this season and they created enough chances to have scored more goals.
Albion got men behind the ball following the sending-off of Claudio Yacob, but by that stage they were two down after goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, having been thoroughly outclassed.
And Chelsea boss Mourinho declared: “The first half was brilliant – beautiful. The quality of football was high. We were playing so well, so fast and so fluid.
“We made the pitch very wide, created space and scored two goals. We should have scored more, but it was fantastic.
“In the second half it was different. We decreased our intensity and made it a little bit easier for them, but I have to say also that West Brom did very well and were well organised defensively.
“I would have liked to have killed the game and scored more goals to give the crowd a little bit more of what we gave them in the first half, but it wasn’t possible. We have to think first about the points.
“But when I use the word beautiful in relation to the football we played in the first half, I think we all agree, The football was brilliant.
“They did really well and you could feel it from the beginning. I can stimulate and motivate, but the reality is that it’s up to them and they were fantastic.”
Mourinho bemoaned the lack of atmosphere at Stamford Bridge after the recent win against QPR in the west London derby.
And he acknowledged the emphatic response from the home fans, who were noisy throughout.
He said: “There is no comparison. I don’t want to speak again about it, because they pay me to coach and win matches, not be critical of the crowd, but the difference was amazing.”
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This post was last modified on 24/11/2014