Terry wanted five-point gap

Terry: Happy with gap

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Chelsea captain John Terry was happy to open up a five-point gap over Manchester United following the 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

Terry's 76th minute header from Frank Lampard's free-kick settled a tight contest in West London and maintained Chelsea's 100 per cent home record.

The victory leaves United trailing their title rivals by five points, with Arsenal, who have a game in hand, also that distance behind the Blues.

Match-winner Terry admits the priority was to ensure Chelsea headed into the international break with a cushion at the top of the table and he praised the effort put in against United.

Deserved

"Another clean sheet for us today - we talk about the attacking players and midfielders coming back and working hard for the team, and that's exactly what we got today," Terry told Sky Sports.

"(The five-point lead) was exactly what we wanted coming into the game - we've been working on it all week.

"That wasn't the best of games, but I think overall we deserved it."

On the scorer of the goal, Terry said: "I got a touch on it, but I think maybe Nico (Anelka) got the second touch - but I'm still claiming it.

"I was watching the stats before the game and I've never scored against them home and away. But Nico's been brilliant today, so he deserves it."

Anelka added: "I don't know; I think I touched the ball, but maybe John will claim it. We played good football and we had some chances - but we stayed compact in defence.

"It's always good to have five points on top of United."