Mourinho swerves Oscar discussion to hail Terry display

Jose Mourinho was left unconcerned by his Chelsea side seeing three penalty appeals turned down against Arsenal on Sunday, instead hailing captain John Terry’s performance.

The skipper continued his impressive campaign at the heart of Chelsea’s defence alongside Gary Cahill as the Premier League leaders inched closer to a fourth title with a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium.

Referee Michael Oliver was at the centre of things – with four penalty appeals turned down between the sides – including what seemed a blatant foul on Oscar by Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina.

After Mourinho’s men took a step closer to winning the league the Portuguese preferred to focus on his side and Terry in particular.

Asked by Sky Sports about the decisions, Mourinho responded: “I don’t comment. I prefer to forget the penalties and focus on the overall performance.

“You have the technology, the repetition, the pundits and I don’t want to analyse. I prefer to look to the performance and say the referee’s performance was good.

“I told John Terry in the dressing room that he made fantastic performances with me in six years but for me this was the best I have seen from him.

“It was the best JT has ever played. His defensive performance was absolutely amazing.”

Mourinho, who needs six more points from his side’s remaining five outings to seal the title, added: “The team is very confident and playing extremely well so we know it is in our hands.

“We got what we got. I leave it for you to analyse but we performed very, very, very well. Against a very good team second in the table with nothing to lose and everything to win. The game was under control.”