Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has rubbished claims their victory over rivals Arsenal was a 'title deciding game'.

The Blues comprehensively outclassed their London counterparts with a sensational 4-1 victory at Meadow Park on Sunday to close the gap at the top of the table to just a single point with a game in hand.

And Hayes could not have praised her side more, a team she believes is the best she has seen in her eight years at the club.

Speaking on the club's website, she said: "When you have great players who are great leaders who take great direction, responsibility, anything can be achieved. 

This is the best group I’ve had since I’ve been at Chelsea and they are in charge, I’m really just propping up the side while they run football matches.

"I thought there was a difference between the two teams, we had a lot of leaders on the pitch."

Manchester City and Arsenal remain level on points at the top of the table, but Hayes' side can leapfrog them and take the title if they win all of their last ten league games.

And while their victory over the Gunners felt like a significant moment in the campaign, the Blues boss refuses to accept it as anything more than three points.

‘It’s three points in what was a game against a rival, not a title deciding game, they are different things," she added.

"We are three points further ahead than we were at the beginning of the day. I thought we finally executed what I asked the team to do in the first 15 minutes of the game and for that reason we were three goals up.

"I genuinely don’t look at it [the league table]. I know we are always going to be a game behind until the end so there is no point looking at it, we just take one game at a time.’

"It’s just too early, you think about it, we’ve all got up-and-coming games, three games a week coming up, a lot can happen in that period."