United lucky to be in lead, says Mourinho

With attention turning back to the race for the Premiership title, Jose Mourinho has taken a swipe at Manchester United - claiming they are lucky to be nine points clear of Chelsea.

"They go to Fulham and it looks like they deserve to lose and they win," the Chelsea manager said. "They play in Tottenham, it's 0-0 and Cristiano [Ronaldo] dives, they get a penalty and after that they win 4-0. It looks like everything is on their side, but that's football."

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The good fortune, Mourinho said, has even extended to the Champions League, and last week's game against Lille which was settled by Ryan Giggs' hotly disputed free-kick. Mourinho said: "This is a season in which they've had no injuries and every player is fine to play."

Mourinho said he did not watch United's game at Fulham last Saturday as he was travelling to Cardiff for the Carling Cup final, but added: "The information I have is that it was completely undeserved. But football is about this. Sometimes you don't deserve it and you win. It's a game that they could lose and in the end they win it."

Indeed, United, who have 10 games left, could be 12 points ahead of Chelsea if they win at Liverpool in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off, before the champions visit Portsmouth in that evening's fixture.

"We've had one less match than United," Mourinho said. "We have to try to go back to six points. What we have to do is keep going and see if the next step is to close the gap or open the gap. If it's to open the gap then it's very, very difficult. If it's to close the gap and go from six to four, then everything is possible."

After back-to-back League titles with Chelsea, which followed on from the same feat with Porto, Mourinho is facing the prospect of not winning a domestic championship for the first time in five years.

The chances of Chelsea prevailing may also be affected by the fixture calendar. If either they, or United, reach the FA Cup semi-finals, the League match between the two at Stamford Bridge will be moved from 15 April to the last midweek of the season. The fear at Chelsea is that United's lead may be unassailable by then.

However, despite his complaint at United's fortune, Mourinho admitted he had enjoyed his share of luck in the last few years. He added: "My first season here, no injuries, and I remember we had five consecutive matches where we scored in the first minute of the game, and it's over."

* French side Lille will appeal against Uefa's decision to allow Giggs' goal to stand in last week's controversial Champions League tie, it was announced yesterday. Uefa, the European governing body, will consider the appeal on Friday.