Wenger tussles with Mourinho as Chelsea soars
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GOALS from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa earned English Premier League leader Chelsea a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in a niggly London derby yesterday remarkable mainly for a spat between rival managers Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger.
The bad blood between the two old adversaries boiled over in the first half when Wenger shoved Mourinho in the chest.
Chelsea was not at its best but for all Arsenal’s possession it rarely looked like replying once Hazard had earned and converted a 27th-minute spot kick.
With the visitors pushing forward, the otherwise quiet Costa sealed the points in the 78th after running on to former Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas’s pinpoint long pass to dink home his ninth league goal in seven matches.
Victory moved Chelsea five points clear at the top with 19 points, ahead of defending champion Manchester City and extended Mourinho’s hold over Wenger who he is now unbeaten against in 12 meetings.
In another match, Tottenham Hotspur edged Southampton 1-0 at White Hart Lane, thanks to a 40th-minute strike from Christian Eriksen. Spurs are now sixth on 11 points while the Saints remain third on 13.
Earlier, Radamel Falcao grabbed his first goal for Manchester United to secure a 2-1 victory over Everton at Old Trafford and put the Red Devils fourth, also on 11 points.
United manager Louis van Gaal was able to celebrate a second successive victory for the first time since taking charge in the close-season, but as in the recent 2-1 win over West Ham United, his team almost threw two points away at the end.
Van Gaal admitted being grateful to goalkeeper David De Gea for a series of fine saves, including one from Leighton Baines’s penalty and then three more in the last few minutes.
“When you hold a penalty and then hold three magnificent saves in the dying seconds, then you are great because you win the game,” the manager said.
He also praised Angel Di Maria, who scored the first goal and contributed the assist for Falcao’s winner but added: “It’s strange because every time the first half is very good and then the second half is so different.”
Argentina international Di Maria scored his third goal in four games to give United the lead in the 27th but Baines, after missing a penalty for the first time with his 15th Premier League spot-kick, crossed for Steven Naismith to head an equalizer in the 55th.
Colombian striker Falcao, playing in place of United’s suspended captain Wayne Rooney, poached the winner in the 62nd minute from a mis-hit shot by Di Maria.
In the last few minutes De Gea made three outstanding saves, twice from Leon Osman and once from Costa Rican Bryan Oviedo as United’s inexperienced defense struggled to hold on.
Everton was left in the bottom four with its manager Roberto Martinez ruing De Gea’s brilliant performance and complaining that the referee should have stopped play before United’s second goal because Steven Pienaar was down injured.
“The referee made a major error there,” he said. “Our second-half performance deserved more than we got and we finished really strong at the end.”
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