Ancelotti says United have title advantage

Carlo Ancelotti admits Chelsea have gifted Manchester United the advantage in the Premier League title race after his side squandered the lead in a 1-1 draw at Blackburn.

Taking just one point at Ewood Park was a major setback for Chelsea, who are now four points behind leaders United in third place, and Blues boss Ancelotti conceded they had only themselves to blame after El-Hadji Diouf cancelled out Didier Drogba's early opener.

The result hardly improved Ancelotti's mood in the wake of Chelsea's exit from the Champions League to Inter Milan and he said: "We started well and scored a nice goal. We had other chances to improve our scoring but the second half was more difficult for us," he said.

"But Blackburn won a lot of second balls and we lost our composure before conceding the goal. We still came back to play but it was too late and I'm disappointed. We've lost two important points," said Ancelotti.

"We tried to win the game and forget about the defeat to Inter. For an hour we did well but this is not an easy moment for us.

"It will be more difficult for us to win the title now but not impossible. We won't have to lose our confidence or composure.

"Manchester United are top of the table and we need to leave this moment as soon as possible."

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