• Defender says pitch was ‘worst we’ve played on all year’
• Chelsea captain also pays tribute to team’s ‘determination’

John Terry said it was a “special” feeling to help Chelsea seal their first league and FA Cup double by beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Wembley. But even as his team’s celebrations were getting under way the defender was quick to add his voice to those condemning the national stadium’s playing surface.

“The pitch ruined the final,” said Terry. “It’s probably the worst pitch we’ve played on all year. It was not good enough for a Wembley pitch. The FA have to decide if this is a football pitch or events stadium.”

• FA Cup final match report: Chelsea 1-0 Portsmouth
• Read Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute report of the game
• In pictures: Tom Jenkins’s best images from Wembley

Even if he felt the final had been compromised, however, Terry described the achievement of winning the double as “unbelievable”. “It’s never been done in the club’s history and to do it with this group of players feels so special,” he said. “I thought our luck was out, but what a great free-kick from Didier.

“It was one of those days, but we came strong and full credit to Didier. The reason why we are top of the league and won the FA Cup is that we are the best team and we have great determination.”

For all that Chelsea outplayed Portsmouth, hitting the woodwork five times during the game, the south-coast club had an opportunity to take the lead when Juliano Belletti brought down Aruna Dindane in the area. Petr Cech saved Kevin-Prince Boateng’s spot-kick, but suggested afterwards he had been “lucky” after the Portsmouth midfielder scuffed his shot.

“I knew what the choices were and, from the body language when he ran towards me, I chose that side – but I was lucky to get there,” he said.

The Czech international added that the players were desperate to write their names in the club’s history, which he felt may have played a part in them missing so many chances before Drogba finally made the breakthrough.

“I’m speechless because during the game there were a lot of emotions,” he said. “We wanted to be the first team at Chelsea to win the double – and we also defended the FA Cup, which is an achievement as well.

“We kept missing and missing, and it looked like it was not going to be our day, but to make two crucial saves I am delighted.”

Drogba admitted it was hard to come back down to earth after sealing the Premier League title last weekend with an 8-0 thrashing of Wigan.

“It was difficult to come back and stay focused [after] we celebrated the title,” he said. “It was difficult again against a very good Portsmouth team. You start to feel that you won’t score, but if you manage to create chances in the first half it means, in the second, you will have some.”

Of his free-kick goal, Drogba added: “I saw a little gap, not a big space, because the wall was in its position. I hit the post again, but it went in this time.”

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• Chelsea are champions if they beat Wigan next Sunday
• Steven Gerrard backpass ‘a great gift’, says Ferguson

Carlo Ancelotti is one win away from guiding Chelsea to the Premier League title after a 2-0 victory at Liverpool that left Sir Alex Ferguson admitting his Manchester United side were “clutching at straws” going into the final weekend of the season.

Goals from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard mean Chelsea will be crowned champions if they beat Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. United won 1-0 at Sunderland, courtesy of a first-half strike from Nani, but they trail by one point as they prepare to take on Stoke City at Old Trafford.

Chelsea have now done the double over Liverpool, Arsenal and United and Ancelotti praised his players. “This game was the key in the fight for the title and we played very well,” said the Chelsea manager. “We deserved to win. Defensively we did a fantastic job.

“We had a lot of opportunities on the counter-attack and it was a really important performance. There was a lot of pressure on us but we had good control of our emotions. The team shows good physical condition, good mentality and good physicality and now we have to train well this week and wait for Sunday.”

Liverpool looked tired and deflated after going out of the Europa League to Atlético Madrid last Thursday and contributed to their own downfall, with Steven Gerrard’s backpass setting up Drogba for the opening goal.

Ferguson described that as “a great gift” but was careful not to criticise United’s arch-rivals. “Liverpool had a hard game on Thursday. They’ve lost 19 games this season so maybe we were asking too much of them to get a result. It was always going to be a difficult job against Chelsea. But it’s not what we wanted, that’s for sure.

“I thought Liverpool would do something, but I suppose it’s hard to expect them to win against Chelsea. It can happen and I’m sure Gerrard will regret it, but there is nothing we can do about it. We can’t win everything.”

Ancelotti accepted that Liverpool had “looked a bit tired in the second half” but he said Rafael Benítez’s team should not be accused of failing to put in their usual effort. “It is never easy to play here,” the Chelsea manager said. “They have very good players and it is a fantastic atmosphere. It is the first time for me here and I will always have good memories of it. We made it a difficult game for them because we played well and had good control of the game.”

Drogba acknowledged that Gerrard’s error had been critical. “He made a big mistake,” the striker said. “I was lucky to be there and score. It was good because this goal gave us a lot of confidence to play well.” Lampard, the Ivorian’s fellow goalscorer, said the significance of the win could not be overstated. “This was a huge game for us,” he said. “If we had dropped points today we would have given the advantage to Man U.”

Chelsea were immediately installed as 1-14 favourites to end United’s run of three successive titles but Ferguson insisted that his players would not give up hope.

“We just have to get on with it. We will play our game and you never know what can happen. If we do our job right, at least we will stretch it out. All we can do is win against Stoke and we want to do that, in front of our fans in the last game of the season.

“You never know … football is a crazy game. I wouldn’t insult Wigan in any shape or form because they are a really good football team and they will have a go. Manchester City did us a great turn by beating Chelsea twice and Wigan are another neighbour but, listen, we know we are clutching at straws a little bit.

“The important thing is for us to win our game and enjoy it. We will play the right way and with dignity in our game. The fight goes on. We have stretched it out for another week and that is what we wanted to do.”

United’s players barely celebrated their win and Ferguson admitted it had been a bittersweet afternoon. “We knew the result [from Anfield] when we kicked off and that there was nothing we could do about it, so I said just: ‘Go and enjoy yourselves, play the Manchester United way and express yourself.’ We did our job. We played with great confidence and expression in our game which is good to see at this time of the year.”

He was less enamoured with Dimitar Berbatov, substituting the Bulgarian after two second-half misses inside the six-yard area. “We were frivolous,” he said. “We had an awful lot of chances, but we wasted a lot, too, and towards the end I was beginning to think they were going to score because 1-0 isn’t a healthy score. It was just careless finishing. Dimitar could have scored four.”

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