Ancelotti: Title challenge back on track

Carlo Ancelotti declared Chelsea back in the Barclays Premier League title race after seeing them end their miserable run by beating Bolton.

The Blues ground out the scrappiest of 1-0 wins last night to take maximum points for the first time in seven matches and close to within four points of leaders Manchester United.

The result eased the pressure on manager Ancelotti, who had overseen the club’s worst sequence since 1999, during which they slumped from top spot to fifth in the table.

After watching his side edge back above Tottenham into fourth, the Italian said: “It’s very important for us now to stay focused on the games.

“Because the league is open again; it is not closed for us.”

But he admitted Chelsea would have surrendered their title had they failed to win last night.

“Obviously, yes,” said Ancelotti, who went into last night’s match with the backing of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

“I think it was the most important thing to change the atmosphere, to change the trend, to come back to win.”

Chelsea were far from their best yesterday, especially in a miserable first half in which they failed to muster a shot on target.

They were much improved after the break but Bolton had enough chances to have snatched a point.

Ancelotti was therefore reluctant to brand the result the turning point in his side’s season.

He said: “It was a very important step, this victory, this performance.

“Now we have to wait for the next game.

“I’m not sure that everything now will be okay. We have to put on a performance again.”

The winner was scored in the 61st minute by Florent Malouda and the relief as the ball hit the net was palpable around Stamford Bridge.

“The goal took the weight off our shoulders,” said Ancelotti, who shrugged off questions over whether Didier Drogba was offside laying on the goal.

“I don’t know if it was offside and I’m not interested.”

Opposite number Owen Coyle was certainly interested in that decision and also another he felt robbed his side of a potential point.

“Ultimately, we’ve been done with a huge decision that I believe was offside,” he said.

“We had a few half-chances, possibly could’ve had a penalty as well with John Terry’s handball.

“But I was here last year and had two stonewall penalties – I think Didier Drogba was playing

volleyball with one – and I never got a penalty, so I certainly wasn’t going to get that.”

Despite missing the chance to climb above Chelsea in the league, Coyle was nevertheless delighted at the progress his side had made since he took charge at the start of 2010 – when Bolton were in the drop zone.

He said: “If somebody had said we’d be coming to Chelsea in the last game of the year with a chance to leapfrog them, at that point they’d have probably taken me away in a straightjacket.”