Chelsea
LONDON // Jose Mourinho said he felt “ashamed” by Chelsea’s “unacceptable” FA Cup fourth-round exit as they lost 4-2 to third-tier Bradford City at Stamford Bridge.
League One Bradford brilliantly responded from two goals down after 38 minutes to dump the Premier League leaders out of the cup.
Chelsea reject Filipe Morais levelled the fourth-round tie with 15 minutes to go and Jon Stead, the scorer of Bradford’s first, teed up Andy Halliday for the winner eight minutes from time.
Substitute Mark Yeates tucked in a stoppage-time fourth to inflict Chelsea’s first home loss this season and spark jubilant celebrations from Phil Parkinson’s visitors.
Mourinho on Friday said it would be a “disgrace” if his side lost.
After Chelsea’s hopes of challenging for an unprecedented quadruple were ended, he said: “In this moment I feel happy for them [Bradford]. I could find in my bad feeling with the game and with the result space to feel happy for them. I’m honest.
“By another side I feel ashamed and I think the players should feel exactly the same as I feel.
“By one side this is the beauty of football, the beauty of the FA Cup. It happens more in the FA Cup than any other country.
“I repeat the word that I used yesterday in case we lost – it’s a disgrace. A sporting disgrace, but it’s a disgrace.
“I know in the history of this competition it happens to every team now and again.
“For me it’s the first time and I think it’s unacceptable to lose against a team from a lower league.”
Parkinson said his side’s triumph would live long in the memory.
“It’s incredible, especially after being two down,” he said on BBC Radio. “The lads are absolutely bouncing in that dressing room and what they’ve done today will be remembered for a very long time – not just in Bradford but all around the country.
“When we got to Wembley [for 2013 League Cup final] by getting the result at Villa Park, it was a day we’ll never forget, and we’ve had some terrific ones, but playing the league leaders and one of the best teams in Europe and scoring four goals – that’s going to take some beating.”
When the score was level at 2-2, Parkinson said the thought of playing for a draw had never entered his mind.
“We certainly weren’t going to sit back because the way the lads were playing, we’re a better team when we’re positive in our division and at any level,” he said.
Mourinho expects Chelsea to be lambasted for their display.
He said: “If I was you [the media], I would be very critical with Chelsea, with Chelsea manager, with Chelsea players, but not just that because I think the other guys don’t deserve that we forget them. They deserve [praise] after such an impressive result.”
Mourinho made nine changes following the midweek draw at Liverpool and with Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final second leg in mind.
He defended his team selection. “The team I select is a good team,” he said. “When we go to the other players, the other players have to be ready to play for Chelsea, to play any game.
“If they cannot play against a team from the Championship or League One or League Two, what do we do? I think the selection was good enough.”
Manchester City
MANCHESTER // Arriving home from Abu Dhabi 19 hours before their FA Cup fourth-round tie against Middlesbrough was not the reason for Manchester City’s shock 2-0 home defeat on Saturday, manager Manuel Pellegrini said.
City beat Hamburg 2-0 in a friendly on Wednesday in Al Ain before arriving back in Manchester at about 8pm GMT on Friday.
After a goalless first half at the Etihad Stadium, City midfielder Fernando’s defensive error allowed on-loan Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford to put Middlesbrough in front on 53 minutes.
City continued to be frustrated by the Championship side and, with time running out, Middlesbrough substitute Kike added a second to seal the victory.
Despite the embarrassment of being knocked out by lower league opposition, Pellegrini refused to blame his side’s late arrival from Abu Dhabi as the reason behind their poor performance.
“No, I don’t think so,” he told the BBC. “It’s easy to have an excuse, but I don’t think that was the case. Before they scored the first goal, we had five or six clear chances. They didn’t have one chance. But we conceded a very easy goal and the game changed. We were nervous.
“They are a team who work well; that’s why they are second in the Championship. They had opportunities to score more goals and deserved to go through.”
Premier League champions City, who trail leaders Chelsea by five points at the top of the table, head to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a mouth-watering clash with Jose Mourinho’s side.
With the Premier League and Champions League the only trophies left for City this season, Pellegrini urged his side to put their FA Cup disappointment behind them.
“Now we must focus on the Premier League and Champions League,” the Chilean said. “We now have a difficult game against Chelsea, we must reduce the five-point gap.”
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