Chelsea Manager Carlo Ancelotti Hails 'Important Victory' Over Manchester United

Goals from Joe Cole and Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the lead, before Federico Macheda pulled a goal back for United.

But Ancelotti was pleased with the performance of his team, though he admitted he has not yet seen Drogba’s goal which appeared to be offside.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I didn’t see the replay of the goal of Drogba. But I think that we played very well in the first half, though it was more difficult in the second half.

“I think that it was a very important victory for us, very important performance. To win here is not easy and I think we did a good job.”

Ancelotti surprised many people by leaving Drogba out of the Chelsea starting line-up, and he went on to explain his decision.

“It was very tough to take out Didier,” he said. “Didier trained not at 100% during the week and I prefer to put him in during the match.

“He did very well because he was fresh and he scored a fantastic goal, and helped the team for 30 minutes and did a very good job.”

With United having to play Bayern Munich in the Champions League during the past week, Ancelotti admitted that his side had a physical edge during the game.

"We did have a good control of the first half with intensity. Because we didn’t have a Champions League game, and in a Champions League game you lose a lot of energy.

“Our aim was to have a good intensity during the game, and in the second half Manchester United played very well.”

The win leaves Chelsea top of the league, though Ancelotti refused to declare his team favourites for the title.

“No, we have gone back to the top of the league but there are five matches we have to play and we have to play with intensity and stay focused.

“We have to keep our composure, this is an important victory but nothing is decided.”

Become a fan of Goal.com UK's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game!