Mata wants Chelsea to build on City victory

Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata hopes his side’s 2-1 win over Manchester City will kick-start the second half of their Premier League campaign.

The Blues became the first side to beat Roberto Mancini’s men this season, and the Spaniard is adamant that the victory will give them the confidence to continue pushing up the table.

“It was a very important win against the league leaders and it gives us a lot of confidence,” Mata told the club’s official website.

“We have won three vital games, against Newcastle, Valencia and now this one, which has broken the negative run we were in and now we can hopefully start a good sequence to keep on rising up the table.”

Chelsea went down to an early Mario Balotelli goal at Stamford Bridge on Monday, but Mata believes Andre Villas-Boas’ side showed great determination to get back into the game and steal all three points.

“It started incredibly badly with Balotelli’s goal but we kept fighting, kept struggling and we managed to turn the game around against a team who had not lost a game all season, that gives us a lot of belief,” he said.

“We could have really dropped down but we didn’t lose any fight. We managed to go in level and then all of our preparations came to the fore in the second half, all the things we had been working on, and we could get the result we deserved.”

“The most important thing in football, in any sport, is confidence. A few days ago we didn’t have as much confidence as we do now, and that can only be attributed to results.”

“Now we have beaten the leaders, we have beaten Valencia and we can keep growing and growing in confidence. It will get more and more.”

Chelsea secured their place in the final 16 of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Valencia last week, and are currently third in the Premier League, seven points behind league leaders City.

Mata believes the team’s recent results have spoken volumes about the overall mood at the club, having recently endured a difficult period.

“The team has shown in the worst moments that we are united behind the manager,” he said.

“Now that we are in a run of results where things are more positive everything is easier, but we have shown that we are together with the manager and the technical staff, like a family.”

“We are in third place, but we have to keep it this weekend if it is to mean anything.”

“There is no point beating City if we are going to lose this weekend, we have to keep winning games now, not assume that we are done.”