FILIPE Morais called his Stamford Bridge goal a “gift from God” after engineering the sensational second-half comeback at his old stomping ground.

Morais kicked off his career as an 18-year-old at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho and was itching to make his mark against them on Saturday.

The opportunity arrived when Petr Cech blocked a close-range shot from Billy Knott, another Chelsea old boy, and the Portuguese was following up to convert the rebound.

Morais, who also provided the cross leading to City’s third goal from Andy Halliday, admitted he was taking a chance by charging into the penalty area.

He said: “I could see Knotty was going to shoot and that is when I decided to gamble. It was risky, because if they do break then we would have been a man down.

“But I thought I would give it a go. It was a gift from God and the ball came straight to me.

“Because of the save Petr Cech had made in the first half (from Andrew Davies), I knew I had to get the ball right in the corner. That was an incredible save.

“It meant that no matter how big the goal looked, I had to still slot it in the corner.

“Before the game, I didn’t think I was going to celebrate. I didn’t want to be disrespectful to Chelsea.

“They moulded me as a young player. But my emotions were running so high, that as soon as the ball went in I couldn’t stop myself. The emotion overtook me.” City had been written off as no-hopers against the Premier League leaders, who had not lost at Stamford Bridge since April. And when they went 2-0 up, the writing looked to be on the wall.

Morais came off just before the marathon stoppage time with cramp after working feverishly on City’s right flank with Stephen Darby.

The winger admitted it will take a long time for the magnitude of the victory to sink in.

“The only word you can use about that is ‘wow’. I still can’t believe it. We created history by beating such a powerful team at their ground.

“Chelsea don’t lose very often but we thoroughly deserved it. The achievement is incredible – look at the resources they have got.

“It was a really hard work-out for us. You have to cover a lot of ground and you do feel that in the legs. That is why I got cramp.

“In the five minutes before I went down, I was really struggling. We are used to such a soft ground at Valley parade but the pitch is like a bowling green here and yet I get cramp.

“As a winger, I had to pose a threat going forward but also get back and help Darbs. It is a big shift but worth every bit of it.

“I was devastated when the board went up to show seven minutes. I thought, ‘Is this a joke?’ But then Yeatesy (Mark Yeates) popped up with a great goal and there was no way back for them.”

Morais had said before the game that he expected Mourinho would recognise him – and the Special One had a bit of joke with his fellow countryman during the warm-up.

Morais added: “I had a lot of time here as a kid. Jose Mourinho is a nice man. I came out of the tunnel and he started screaming my name.

“I was trying to get in the zone and didn’t know where to look. It was a bit awkward.

“I wanted to focus and yet he was having a laugh and a joke with me.”