SOCCER: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho last night insisted his side have every chance of reaching the league Cup final, despite United having home advantage for the second leg.

"It's zero-zero, so if we win we go through and if we get a draw we go to extra time," he said. "We have exactly the same chance we had before this game. We are confident of getting a result but we know what Manchester United is, a footballing power. It'll be difficult for us, but also for them."

He was enthralled by the match but far from happy with the behaviour of United players, who he claimed were always aiming to gain an unfair advantage. "I think first of all it was a great game," he told Sky Sports. "I think normally matches without goals are not good games of football, but this was a great game.

"I think we played one of our best performances at home and normally we would have to win this game because we had the best chances. I think we deserved to win, but I can accept the result because Manchester United defended well and fought to get the clean sheet, so I have to give them credit for the result they got."

On his claims of United using gamesmanship, he accused them of repeatedly moving set-pieces forward, but added: "If the FA wants to ask me, I will tell them what I saw, what I heard and what I feel."

United manager Alex Ferguson thought his side should have had a penalty when Louis Saha was sandwiched by two Chelsea players in the first half.

"It looked as if it was a penalty, no doubt about that," he said afterwards. "Duff got a free-kick in the exact same situation just outside the box."

He added: "The referee gave Chelsea an awful lot in the first half."

Ferguson was cheered by the return to action of Saha, who proved his fitness by playing for the full 90 minutes.

"For us the great thing from my point of view was we got Louis Saha back," he said.

"With that game behind him, he'll be a terrific addition to our team."

Saha, making his return from a long spell on the injury list, said: "I think it was a very tight game and everyone was concentrated on not conceding a goal. I thought we gave a strong game today. It was a really good game to come back into.

"I was very happy and tried to enjoy it as much as possible - and tried to score. It was very good for me tonight."

United midfielder Phil Neville admitted his side were happy to take a draw in the wake of their disappointing performance against Exeter in the FA Cup on Saturday.

He said: "I think we'd have took that before the game. I thought it was a good performance.

"We battled hard and we kept Chelsea down to a couple of chances. Our form's not been that bad, I'd say that (the Exeter game) was a blip."

United had a couple of penalty appeals turned down in the first half but Neville agreed the score line was a fair one.

He added: "A draw was probably a fair result. I thought the second one was probably more clear-cut than the first one. When you're playing away from home you maybe don't get everything you should."

Meanwhile, last night Joe Cole made his 12th start of the season, and his third in a row.

This, on recent evidence, is a reborn Cole, persuaded by Mourinho of the virtues of helping to preserve the team's shape and of putting his foot in.

Last night Chelsea oozed more obvious class and invention with Joe Cole's tricks, Damien Duff's thrusting runs and the ever-consistent Frank Lampard's creativity.

Cole's reward for his recent form came last night when, with Arjen Robben suspended, he was invited to move up into the position alongside Duff, wide on the right but ready to tuck in or even to combine with his partner on either flank in the style Chelsea have developed so profitably this season.

There was expression of Mourinho's faith in Cole 20 minutes into the second half, when Mateja Kezman was thrust into the fray in an attempt to provide the breakthrough.

Only a few weeks ago, Cole would have expected his number to appear on the fourth official's board. This time the number was that of Tiago.

Five minutes later, however, his time was up, although there was a warm hug from Mourinho as Cole left the pitch to allow Jiri Jarosik to make his debut.