Cech: We made the most of luck to win at Highbury

GOALKEEPER Petr Cech has admitted Chelsea made the most of their good fortune to overcome Arsenal at Highbury on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho’s side restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premiership with a 2-0 victory which effectively ended the Gunners’ title ambitions this season.

Goals in each half from Arjen Robben and Joe Cole earned Chelsea their first win at Highbury since 1990 and their first at the ground in the Premiership.

But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was left fuming over Robin van Persie’s disallowed goal which would have put the Gunners in front in the first half.

The strike was ruled out for offside but television pictures later confirmed the Arsenal player had received the ball in an onside position.

Thierry Henry also hit Cech’s left-hand upright and now the Czech international has admitted that they rode their luck to secure the vital victory.

“We controlled the game very well and we managed to score the first goal just before the half-time break, which was a big psychological shock for the Arsenal players,” Cech told his official website.

“In the second half, we played a counter-attack style of play, we played well tactically and generally it was a good match from us.

“But I have to say we were lucky, mainly when Henry hit the post when it was still 0-0. During the first 30 minutes, I didn’t touch the ball.

“But then in the second half, the home side had several chances, so I was in action.”

Meanwhile, the Football Association are considering Jose Mourinho’s response to their request for him to explain his apparent accusation of cheating against Wigan’s Lee McCulloch.

The Chelsea boss made his submission yesterday, the final day of the seven-day deadline imposed by the FA in these matters, and the governing body will take their time to assess his justification.

Mourinho was fined £5,000 (€7,300) last season for alleging that Manchester United players were guilty of “fault and fault and cheat and cheat” in their Carling Cup semi-final clash.

However, he then risked another misconduct charge after expressing his frustration following an incident during the recent 1-0 win against Wigan.

Striker David Connolly allowed the ball to run out of play in the second half because McCulloch was on the floor clutching his ankle.

Mourinho told defender William Gallas not to give possession back to Wigan because he felt McCulloch was feigning injury after a clash with Joe Cole.

He later claimed: “We know what fair play is and when a player is injured, we give the ball back.

“When a player is cheating, we are not stupid.

“Because the player was cheating and seconds later stood up and was running again, I told William Gallas not to give them the ball back.

“It is my responsibility and I will do it again. Fair play is not to cheat.

“It is one thing to be injured and another to pretend to be injured.”

There was no further comment from Chelsea today.