Manchester painted blue again

United manager Jose Mourinho responded to his side’s 3-1 derby defeat to Premier League leaders Manchester City yesterday by saying his team had paid the price for their midweek Champions League exertions in beating Juventus.

United fought back for a 2-1 victory against the Italian champions in Turin on Wednesday while City cruised through a home game against Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 and the Portuguese manager was quick to point out that context.

“Everybody has to agree — it is one thing to go to Juventus and play against one of the best teams in the world for 90 minutes and another thing to beat Shakhtar Donetsk at home 6-0 and be very relaxed. We arrived in different circumstances,” said Mourinho.

“It is not the physical effort but the mental pressure. I think some of the boys felt it a little bit,” he added.

But in contrast with some defeats this season, Mourinho was unwilling to criticise his team’s attitude and effort.

“The way people who don’t understand football analyse it is with stats. I don’t go for stats. I go for what I felt in the game and it was there until minute 80 something.

“We made mistakes. We were punished but the fight, the togetherness, it is something we are building and are not going to lose that because of a defeat,” he said.

“For me zero words against my players, everything is positive. I am with them and they are with me,” added the former Real Madrid boss.

Mourinho was without French midfielder Paul Pogba, sidelined with injury, and while the United boss did not want to use that absence as an excuse, he said the need to play Marouane Fellaini had limited his later options.

“I don’t like to lose and speak about this player that was not (here), I don’t like that very much but he is important for us in many aspects,” Mourinho said of Pogba.

“We had to play Fellaini, he was not ready to play for 90 minutes. I can imagine (if) when the result was 2-1 to bring a fresh Fellaini, I think they would be in big big trouble.

However, Maurizio Sarri admitted Chelsea paid the price for a sluggish start and a lack of killer instinct as Jordan Pickford’s heroics earned Everton a 0-0 draw. Sarri’s side recovered from a poor first half performance and laid siege to the Everton goal after the break, but found Pickford unbeatable as the England keeper made a series of fine saves.

The stalemate at Stamford Bridge left Chelsea two points behind Liverpool, who beat Fulham earlier yesterday, with Manchester City having a chance to pull clear of the Blues against Manchester United later in the day.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Chelsea, who extended their unbeaten start under Sarri to 18 games in all competitions but couldn’t make their territorial dominance count.

“I didn’t like the first 25 minutes. We moved the ball very slow, so it was impossible for us to be dangerous,” Sarri said.

“I’m not happy of course. I don’t know why we start slowly. It’s a good question. I don’t think it’s a physical problem.

“In the second half we played with more speed and intensity. So maybe it is a mental problem.

“We might have some difficulties to approach the match from a mental point of view. It’s difficult to answer.”

Frustrated by Chelsea’s failure to turn possession into goals, Sarri said: “Usually yes we are sharp enough, but not in the last three matches. As I said to my players, we created too few goal opportunities in relation to how much we played.

Meanwhile, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s 86th minute equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw for Arsenal at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers as the Gunners extended their unbeaten run to 16 games in all competitions.

Unai Emery’s side appeared set for defeat against their newly-promoted opponents as they struggled to recover after falling behind to Ivan Cavaleiro’s 13th minute goal.

They were rewarded for an improved second-half performance when Mkhitaryan, introduced as a 76th-minute substitute, floated a cross into the Wolves penalty area that evaded everyone before drifting in at the far post.

The leveller brought relief for the Gunners but for long periods of time, this was a less than convincing performance by the north London club. — AFP