Villas-Boas defends Cech blunder

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has sprung to the defence of goalkeeper Petr Cech after his mistake cost the Blues three points against Wigan.

Jordi Gomez appeared to benefit from some hesitant goalkeeping by Cech when he scored an 87th minute equaliser for Wigan in Saturday’s 1-1 draw, the dropped points leaving Chelsea six points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Cech’s ability to command the area in and around the six-yard box has been questioned since he suffered a fractured skull in 2006, but Villas-Boas believes the goal was due to a collective defensive error, rather than that of an individual.

“Goals like that happen,” Villas-Boas said. “It is always a collective mistake and Wigan made the most of our lack of concentration and they put the ball in the back of the net.”

“I don’t know if Petr (Cech) was unsighted by his defenders on the goal but it certainly looks like it.”

“We managed to organise ourselves and had good men behind the ball – (Jose) Bosingwa, John Terry and Ashley (Cole) – but they are nearer the keeper and eventually they lost track of his position and the position of the opponent but then again it is normal. It is nothing that we would point to as an individual mistake.”

“In the second half it was a question of patience until we found a goal. Maybe we could have tried to go on for the second goal. But we decided to hold on and exploit the spaces in behind but we conceded a goal that is disappointing.”

“It is a pity. The players fought hard so confidence is not affected but it is a fair result. It does not undo the positivity of recent weeks.”

Wigan need all the points they can get as they fight against relegation, and manager Roberto Martinez said their fighting effort against Chelsea felt like a win.

“The performance gives you that feeling that we have picked up all three points not just one,” Martinez told Wigan’s official website.

“Even though we were playing a fantastic team in great form, you have to look at the amount of corners we had compared to them, the amount of possession and the attempts on target.”

“I think the statistics prove what a fantastic performance it was.”

“The players were thinking at all times and coped with Chelsea’s threat when they had the ball really well and then we showed a really dangerous streak in the way we played.”