Mourinho stews after City beating
Print Edition
Under-fire Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho cut a frustrated figure as he weathered questions about his side鈥檚 bruising 0-3 defeat at the hands of English Premier League title rival Manchester City.
Ever the pugilist, Mourinho protested that Chelsea鈥檚 improved second-half performance in Manchester on Sunday meant the scoreline was 鈥渇ake鈥, but neither the impression left by the game nor the statistics bore him out.
Eden Hazard forced City goalkeeper Joe Hart to save at 1-0, but it was Chelsea鈥檚 only real chance at that stage and the hosts finished the game having recorded eight shots on target to the visitors鈥 three.
Bloodied after a week that saw him roundly criticized for demoting medics Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn over a row about their treatment of Hazard during the opening-day 2-2 draw with Swansea City, Mourinho was reduced to claiming that City had abandoned its principles by tightening up in the second half.
It was a tactic he had employed after Chelsea鈥檚 0-1 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield, when he accused Arsene Wenger鈥檚 team of 鈥渓eaving their philosophy in the dressing room鈥, and it felt like a similarly redundant observation at the Etihad Stadium.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini reacted prudently as his players fought to protect the lead procured by Sergio Aguero鈥檚 31st-minute goal, sending on Samir Nasri and Martin Demichelis.
Mourinho said it was a sign that City felt 鈥渋n danger鈥, but there was a grain of truth in Pellegrini鈥檚 assertion that 鈥渋n our worst moment, Chelsea didn鈥檛 have chances鈥.
Mourinho, whose side trails City by five points, said he was startled to see Aguero granted so much space in the first half when he and his defenders had spent 鈥渁ll week鈥 planning how to stop him.
He also explained that his surprising decision to remove John Terry at half-time 鈥 the first time he has withdrawn his captain in 177 league games 鈥 was purely due to a desire to add Kurt Zouma鈥檚 pace to the back four and move their defensive line further forward.
Terry, 34, played every single second of Chelsea鈥檚 title triumph last season and there was a note of irritation in Mourinho鈥檚 voice when he was asked why it was he, and not Gary Cahill, who had been withdrawn. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if you ask many questions to (Rafael) Benitez, Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto di Matteo, to the ones that never played him,鈥 Mourinho replied, citing some of his predecessors in the Chelsea dug-out.
The display is only like to accelerate Chelsea鈥檚 pursuit of Everton center-back John Stones. Left-back Abdul Rahman Baba鈥檚 arrival from Augsburg was confirmed by the German club on Sunday.
While Mourinho stewed, Pellegrini was left to reflect on a performance that immediately reinstalled his side, deposed by Chelsea last season, as the Premier League鈥檚 team to beat.
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