Andre Villas-Boas believes Chelsea were happiest with a point after Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 with their London rivals.

Spurs took the lead through Gylfi Sigurdsson during a first half they completely dominated but Chelsea came back into the game and levelled through a John Terry header.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho brought on out-of-favour Juan Mata at half time and his introduction proved the difference as the Spaniard produced an inch-perfect free kick for Terry to glance home.

The result meant Villas-Boas had to share the points with his former boss Mourinho, under whom he worked for seven years at Porto.

Speaking after the game, Villas-Boas said: “We fought a hard battle – it was two teams that wanted to win this game.

“We had a very good first half, not a good second. I think it was a fair result. The league won’t be decided in games like this. It will be against other teams where you can’t drop points.”

Spurs should have perhaps extended their lead during an opening 45 minutes in which they were all over The Blues.

And Villas-Boas said it was the visitors that came away happier with the result.

He said: “It was a great, great battle. Obviously the result serves Chelsea better as they’ve went to Man U and drawn and to Tottenham and drawn.

“Mata played very well – he changed the game. He’s an extremely creative player. He probably had the impact Chelsea and Jose wanted and provided another assist for JT to score.”