Jose Mourinho: West Ham long balls and complaining make it 'difficult' for the referee

JOSE MOURINHO believes West Ham's vocal atmosphere at Upton Park made the referee's job "difficult" during Chelsea's 1-0 win over West Ham tonight.

Thibaut Courtois saves for ChelseaREUTERS

Thibaut Courtois (right) pulled off a number of saves to see Chelsea to victory

Eden Hazard scored a first-half header to split the sides on a gritty night of late challenges and off-the-ball incidents that keeps Chelsea five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

The Blues endured a rocky time of it, with Thibaut Courtois rescuing his side on a number of occasions.

And Mourinho conceded West Ham's style of play - which yielded 18 shots in Courtois' direction - made if tough for his team.

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He said: "The way they play, nobody is better than them. They are the best at the way they play. It is not just to play football, the pressure, the tension and the emotion, my players were fantastic. We couldn't kill the game and these three points are massive for us.

"I told the referee is it very difficult to be a ref here, because of the style of their game. Lots of long balls. West Ham had lots of balls in the box, very difficult, very intense and really difficult for the referee.

"They complain for everything, the crowd is behind them and it is really, really difficult."

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