Moyes dismisses crisis talk

DAVID Moyes still thinks he can lead Manchester United to the title - even though his team is now 14 points off the pace following a damaging 3–1 defeat at Chelsea.

Samuel Eto’o took advantage of some suspect defending to score a hat–trick at Stamford Bridge, with United’s only consolation coming thanks to a late strike from substitute Javier Hernandez.

After experiencing 26 years of success under Sir Alex Ferguson, United fans are now facing up to the very real possibility their side won’t qualify for the Champions League this season.

Opposite number Jose Mourinho said after the game that United’s rivals would have to suffer dramatic collapses for Moyes’ team to reclaim the title, but the Scot is refusing to give up just yet.

“We won’t throw the towel in until we can't get there,” the United manager said.

“The job is to try and finish first. I will keep trying to do that. Before this we’d lost one in six in the league, and I didn’t think there was a big difference between the teams, not at all.”

United were second best for large parts of yesterday’s encounter. Mourinho’s men were more compact, looked far more incisive on the attack and unlike United, their defensive stability never seemed in doubt.