Carlo Ancelotti: John Terry is perfect captain for Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti hailed John Terry as a “perfect captain“ after Chelsea reclaimed top spot in the Premier League.

Terry, stripped of the England captaincy, led Chelsea to victory after Didier Drogba’s stunning brace killed off Arsenal’s fading title hopes.

Chelsea captain Terry threw his shirt into the crowd at the final whistle and applauded the fans after his nightmare week following revelations that he had an affair with England team mate Wayne Bridge’s ex-partner Vanessa Perroncel.

Chelsea boss Ancelotti said: “He is the perfect captain for Chelsea, for sure. He is working for his club and we are happy to have this performance in this moment.

“My captain has a fantastic attitude, he is doing very well every game. For the team, it is very important to have this leadership. He is always in control of the game. He has a really strong mentality.

“It will be difficult for Arsenal to return to the top of the table but they have a possibility. They are a good team and it depends on the performances of Manchester United and Chelsea. I’m not sure it will be a race with two horses.”

Chelsea hero Drogba, who has scored 12 goals in his last ten starts against Arsenal, said: “It’s been a difficult week for us, for Chelsea and for all of the club but we all stayed together. We offered him as much support as we can.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insisted his team were unlucky to lose and said their superior possession proved that Chelsea were fortunate as he also took a dig at Ancelotti’s team, claiming they have a cynical approach.

Wenger said: “I believe our spirit and performance was great. I’m completely happy with our performance. Against Man United last week, we didn’t turn up, today we had the expected performance.

“We didn’t get a demonstration of football but they were efficient. We had mountains of possession and couldn’t transform it into goals.

“Chelsea are very experienced. They make the foul when they are caught on the counter-attack at the right period at the right place in the middle of the pitch. The little foul just a little push with the shirt. They do that very well.”

Terry finished the game with a dead leg and that may enable Chelsea to give him a break which would allow him to fly to Dubai to try and patch up his marriage with wife Toni. Terry will have a scan today.