Jose Mourinho: "Christian Benteke is a special player"

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has heaped praise on Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke.

The Belgian striker scored for Paul Lambert's side as the Blues beat the Villans 2-1 in the Premier League on Wednesday evening, and Mourinho feels that Benteke is crucial to Villa's plans this season.

"In Benteke they have a special player with special qualities," Mourinho is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

"They play from him. They use this and they play on the counter-attack. It was a football fight between Benteke and Branislav Ivanovic.

"They don't play a lot. Every ball the goalkeeper kicks, so they don't play but they created great difficulties."

Benteke is the Premier League's top scorer this season, with three goals in two games.