After managing to beat Aston Villa this past weekend both Chelsea fans and Branislav Ivanovic breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the team from London is now seven points clear of title-challengers, Manchester City.
But the Serbian defender knows that now is not a time to relax, although the three points he helped his team earn versus Villa are extremely important since the game was indeed very tough.
We cannot be relaxed. This is a massive three points for us. The game was very tough but at the end of the day I think we deserved three points,
We don’t have time to relax even one second. There are 14 games to go and we must stay focused. Seven points is big but this can change quickly.
The Chelsea right back is proud of the team and the teams performance, albeit he is not happy with his. Ivanovic did score a stunning volley in the 66th minute to put the Blues up by one, but he is not satisfied with his overall performance.
It was an important goal for the team, a great half-volley and I’m happy with the goal, but not so happy with my performance and I know what I have to do better.
Many Chelsea fans have questioned Mourinho’s decision to persistently play Ivanovic knowing that his tendency to drift forward occasionally threatens Cahill and Terry and has even resulted in his team conceding. Ivanovic simply reminded Chelsea fans of why he deserves to be on the team sheet. Although he may sometimes endanger the team defensively, he also contributes a lot going forward. The Serbian knows that he has to pick up his game defensively and hopefully he will.
All quotes from chelseafc.com
