Crespo saves Blues blushes

Middlesbrough 1 Chelsea 2

Ranieri's expensively-assembled side snatched a 2-1 victory at the death at Middlesbrough when substitute Hernan Crespo headed home Damien Duff's 88th-minute cross to claim all three points.

The win leaves the Blues just a point adrift of the Gunners with a game in hand, but the Italian is adamant at the gap between his men and Arsenal and Manchester United is much wider.

"It's just the table," he said. "We aren't like them, but we're working to close the gap. Some journalists say to me it's very close, but I say no, no, because we aren't used to coping very well when something strange happens.

"For this reason, I say we must work. We aren't like them. We have a good spirit, a fighting spirit, but sometimes we must improve our patience and our tactics.

"We need time. We need to understand when, for example today, Middlesbrough put us under pressure, we must be calm and close the space. If you watched the match yesterday, Liverpool and Arsenal, in the last five minutes, Arsenal kept possession of the ball and slowed down the tempo and Liverpool could not do anything.

"We wanted to score the third goal, giving them a chance to draw. That's not right. You're winning 2-1, slow down the tempo, keep possession."

Eidur Gudjohnsen fired the visitors in front with a 17th-minute strike as his side dominated the first half with defender John Terry also hitting the crossbar with a header. However, Boro hit back within 19 seconds of the restart when Szilard Nemeth converted Gaizka Mendieta's pass, and the game was transformed.

Spaniard Mendieta had endured a quiet first half, but he exploded into life after the break to inspire a fightback which could have resulted in a home victory if Malcolm Christie or George Boateng had taken one of the chances that came their way.

However, the Teessiders were left deflated at the death when Duff and Crespo combined to snatch the points, much to Ranieri's relief.

"I'm very pleased with the result," he said. "It was a difficult match. The first half was fantastic for us. We played very well.

"The team showed good football and scored a goal, but in the second half after the goal, Middlesbrough deserved to draw and put us under pressure, and for us, it was very, very difficult to understand what happened.

"Mendieta was fantastic. He played very, very well. In the second half, he put us under pressure and it was very, very difficult to stop him."

Boro boss Steve McClaren felt hard done to after seeing his side scrap their way back into the game, but could not fault his players.

"It's a cruel game this football," he said.

"We were just saying, probably our best two performances of the season have been Leeds and today and we've lost both games.

"But I thought the performance from the players today was magnificent, especially in the second half and I can't fault the performance, I can't fault the attitude.

"We paid the price really for, while being on top and having chances, not getting that second goal, and a lack of concentration in the last minute.

"But certainly, when you look at the last four performances that we've had, it's coming together. We look hard to play against, hard to beat and we've got great quality in the team.

"If we keep playing like that and we've got good players too come back as well it bodes well for the future."

MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer, Queudrue, Mills, Riggott, Cooper, Mendieta, Greening, Doriva (Juninho Paulista 89), Boateng, Christie (Ricketts 82), Nemeth (Downing 87).

CHELSEA: Cudicini, Johnson, Bridge, Terry, Huth, Duff, Gronkjaer (Cole 79), Makelele, Lampard, Hasselbaink (Crespo 45), Gudjohnsen (Mutu 79).

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire).