"This year, in December, we were a long way clear and people were already saying we were champions."

"Manchester United were fantastic and I think today the result doesn't show how difficult it was for us."

Terry added: "There was no way I was going to come off. I was desperate to stay on and enjoy the moment."

"Chelsea deserve all the credit," said Ferguson. "3-0 was harsh but we let in soft goals and when you do that against Chelsea you have to take your medicine."

RELENTLESS ATTACK

Mourinho's men have carried on where they left off last term by combining rock solid defending with a relentless attack, striking from midfield with Lampard or up front through Drogba.

Terry led a back line that looked almost invulnerable, helping Chelsea win their opening nine games and remain unbeaten until going down to United at Old Trafford in early November.

At the turn of the year, they led United by nine points, a lead that increased, despite a 3-0 drubbing at Middlesbrough, to 18 by mid-March.

Chelsea's multi-national mixture of doughty defence and speedy counter-attack led by rotated wingers Dutchman Arjen Robben, Ireland's Damien Duff and Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips of England proved a winning formula.

But Mourinho worried that leading the table from so early in the season might cause problems with motivation later.

Ferguson's side, with games in hand, began to chip away with a long winning run of their own and Chelsea dropped points against lowly Fulham and Birmingham.

The lead was whittled down to seven before Chelsea replied with renewed spirit, beating West Ham 4-1 on April 9 after scoring all their goals while a man down following the sending off of Portugal midfielder Maniche.

United were unexpectedly held to a 0-0 draw by Sunderland and Chelsea capitalised by winning the rest of their games to move within a point of the title before Saturday's showdown.