Joy for Wenger, gloom for Mourinho
[caption id="attachment_106857" align="alignright" width="265"] IN TROUBLE: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands by referee Jonathan Moss during the game against West Ham United on Saturday. PICTURE: REUTERS[/caption]
BITTER rivals Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho had wildly contrasting afternoons on Saturday as Arsenal maintained their challenge in the English Premier League and champions Chelsea lost again, with their manager being sent off.
Wenger, once dubbed “a specialist in failure” by the Chelsea boss, punched the air in delight after Arsenal beat Everton 2-1 at a rain-lashed Emirates Stadium.
Mourinho, however, failed to show up at his post-match news conference after the Stamford Bridge club slumped to a 2-1 defeat at London rivals West Ham United.
On another bleak day for Chelsea, they finished with 10 men after having Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic sent off. The mood of the visitors was not helped at a wet Upton Park when Cesc Fabregas had a first-half goal harshly disallowed for offside.
Arsenal won their fourth successive league match after headers from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny in a threeminute spell in the first half to give them 22 points from 10 games.
Chelsea’s fifth league defeat of the season saw West Ham remain at the top of the pile after a venomous first-half shot into the bottom corner from Mauro Zarate and a late header from substitute Andy Carroll gave them victory.
Gary Cahill briefly drew Chelsea level with a close-range shot in the 56th minute after referee Jon Moss had ordered Mourinho to the stands when the outspoken Portuguese had approached him at half time.
“The mood in the dressing room is not great, like you’d imagine when you lose games,” Cahill told the BBC.
“You’re left scratching your head sometimes. In the first half, the Fabregas goal could have been given and we had the goal that was nearly over the line. That sums up the way we’re going.”
Cahill was referring to a first-half header from Kurt Zouma that went within millimetres of a goal.
Troy Deeney and Almen Abdi struck in Watford’s 2-0 victory at Stoke City. – Reuters
