Chelsea demand respect as they march to title

Leicester City 1 Chelsea 3

A rousing second half comeback against Leicester has left Chelsea just one win away from clinching their first Premier League title since 2010, and prompted manager Jose Mourinho to describe his players as "phenomenal".

Marc Albrighton gave the Foxes a surprise half-time lead at the King Power Stadium as they looked for their fourth consecutive win and three vital points that would take them further away from the relegation zone. But Chelsea responded after the break in a style worthy of champions elect with goals from Didier Drogba, captain John Terry and Ramires.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The comeback delighted the visiting fans whose chants of "boring, boring Chelsea" echoed round the ground, an ironic riposte to the Arsenal supporters who on Sunday had taunted Chelsea during the goalless draw at the Emirates.

The 34-year-old Terry, whose goal was his 38th in the Premier League, drawing him level with David Unsworth as the top-scoring defender in the competition's history, addressed the criticism of his team after the game. "We've been the best side all season. We deserve a lot of respect," he said. "We've been very good all season so let's hope we win it on Sunday."

Chelsea will be crowned champions if they beat Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, although realistically the title is already theirs with Arsenal the only club mathematically able to catch the Blues despite trailing their London rivals by a massive 13 points.

In truth Chelsea have had one hand on the title for most of the season after establishing their position as league leaders early on. It's this dominance, according to Drogba, which has led to criticism of the Blues. "We don't enough credit," said the 37-year-old striker. "We are top of the league, we have the most points and people find us boring because we have been top since day one."

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson – whose side remain one place above the relegation zone – backed Drogba's claim. "I've heard criticism of Chelsea recently and I find it bemusing," he said. "I think they're a really good side and have some great players. I'm not oblivious to the views that were spouted at the weekend in terms of style of football but I'm a believer in winning games and that's it."

Victory over Leicester brought to an end a satisfactory April for Chelsea in which they negotiated their way past several tricky fixtures. "This was the month when people were waiting for Chelsea to slip up, to lose one game or draw," explained Mourinho. "We were phenomenal tactically, with team spirit, the way we defended, the way we were clinical with our goal and the stability we showed in every game."

And the Chelsea manager had this message for the fans ahead of Sunday's potentially decisive match against Palace. "I hope our fans walk up to Stamford Bridge not celebrating but to play the match with us and push the team," he said. "That is the spirit we have in our group."