Cahill’s praise for Blues after Manchester United crushed

Gary Cahill has heaped praise on his Chelsea team-mates after the Blues made Jose Mourinho’s homecoming as Manchester United manager one to forget for the self-proclaimed Special One.

Antonio Conte’s men trounced an abject United 4-0 in a one-sided Premier League affair at Stamford Bridge, with the victory and points edging Chelsea above Tottenham into fourth spot in the table thanks to better goal difference.

Pedro pounced for the quickest goal of the  top flight season 30 seconds in before Cahill made it 2-0 ahead of Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante sealing the deal.

And Cahill said: “First and foremost winning the game was the most important thing but the performance that went with it was fantastic. We dominated from the first minute to the last and it was really impressive from us. We’re very pleased and I’m delighted with the attitude shown by the boys.

“It was the way we wanted to start the game, we wanted to be sharp and that’s what Pedro was with the early opener. He was first to react and bang, it was 1-0. We played well, we played with confidence and overall it was probably our best performance of the season.

“We’ve stopped letting goals in and naturally that breeds confidence. We need to stay in contention, stay up there. It’s going to be tight until the end of the season because there are some terrific teams up there.”

Meanwhile, Hazard reiterated the importance of snaring three points against one of the teams who could challenge at the top end of the table.

He said: “It gives a lot of confidence. We started well and for the fans and us it was a great afternoon. It was a big game and we’ve already lost big games this season against Liverpool and Arsenal, so we did well.

“In football the most important thing is three points. We have a lot of confidence now, we’ve won three games in a row and we have to continue like this.”