Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez lauded his side's defensive qualities as they edged a determined Norwich 1-0 in their Boxing Day clash.
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This slender victory comes hot on the heels of the Blues' 8-0 thrashing of Aston Villa, and Benitez applauded the way his charges were able to adapt to the two opponents while working hard and playing good football.
Juan Mata netted the only goal of the match at Carrow Road with a well-taken strike from the edge of the box on 38 minutes.
After the three points were secured, Benitez said: "I think it is important to see the team working hard and defending well. We have another clean sheet after Villa, where we were playing really offensive football.
"We could manage and we could control against a good team. They were well organised and pushed and were quite dangerous on the counter-attack, but we were doing our job in defence and that is something we have improved and can keep on improving.
"This kind of game - 1-0 - a free-kick, corner or counter-attack can make a difference so until the end they were pushing so we did well."
With the Canaries enjoying a far more productive season than Villa, Benitez admitted his troops approached Wednesday's match differently.
The Spanish tactician added: "We can manage different kinds of games and still get results.
"There are not a lot of teams who can play football like we did the other day and also show that we can defend and work hard in difficult conditions (at Norwich) with the rain at the end. We are in a good position but can still improve."
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