Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insisted his side were still the team to beat despite the Premier League leaders seeing their unbeaten start to the season ended by Newcastle United.
Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 setback against 10-man Newcastle, their first loss since April, saw Chelsea fall one game short of setting a club-record mark of 24 matches without defeat.
More damagingly, it allowed defending champions Manchester City to close to within three points of Mourinho’s side by winning 1-0 at home to Everton.
But the Chelsea manager said he was relaxed after Papiss Cisse’s brace condemned his team to a third consecutive defeat on Tyneside.
“We were unlucky and Newcastle had the luck, but I have no complaints towards my players and how they went about the game,” said Mourinho, whose side hit back through Didier Drogba.
“It’s one defeat, but it’s the kind of defeat which I can accept a little more, because I have no problem with the way my players played.
“It would have been so very difficult to go through the season unbeaten as so many people had suggested. But even after this defeat, we have to ask the other 19 teams in the Premier League if they’d like to be in our position? I think they would.
“We were unlucky, that’s all. The best team lost. The team that tried to win lost. That’s football. It’s a lucky day for them, and an unlucky one for us, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
“We conceded goals the only time they crossed the halfway line. I don’t criticise their approach. You need luck to play that way and win, but they had it and I have no problems with that.”
Mourinho was unhappy with what he saw as Newcastle’s time-wasting tactics, even accusing their ball boys of being part of a strategy to run down the clock during the six minutes of added time.
“We wanted to play more football, but it wasn’t possible due to a few things happening that I thought didn’t belong to top-level football now,” he said.
“The ball comes, then the ball goes and the ball boys run away. The ball disappears, then when the replacement ball comes, the first one comes back as well.
“There should have been more stoppage time, but it’s hard for the referee to keep track of.”
Victory for Newcastle, who were reduced to 10 men late on after a second yellow card for defender Steven Taylor, was the perfect way for manager Alan Pardew to celebrate his impending fourth anniversary at the club.
“I can’t praise my players enough,” he said. “We’ve done the rest of the Premier League a favour by beating Chelsea. We’ve given everyone a gee-up and made it more interesting.
“It’s a two-horse race between Chelsea and Manchester City, but this has made it more interesting.”
Rookie goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, 21, came off the bench at half-time for the injured Rob Elliot and played a pivotal role in the win on his senior debut.
“Robbie had been struggling and he hasn’t really trained, so Jak was half-prepared to come on,” Pardew said.
“He showed nerves of steel and gave me so much confidence watching from the sidelines. He’ll definitely win our cool dude award at the Christmas party. He’s a northeast hero tonight.”
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Brief scores
Barcelona 2
Pique 36', Alena 87'
Villarreal 0
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Fifa Club World Cup:
When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
