Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho turned his ire on Premier Leaque officials by slamming a “fake” table after his side returned to the summit with a 3-0 win at home to Stoke on Saturday.
Victory, secured by goals from Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian, saw Chelsea leapfrog Liverpool, who play West Ham on Sunday, into first place by a point.
It also left the London club two points in front of Manchester City but, significantly, Manuel Pellegrini’s third-placed side will have two games in hand over both Chelsea and Liverpool come the end of this weekend.
And that doesn’t sit well with Mourinho, who believes it is wrong that the clubs vying for the title won’t have played the same number of games until the final week of the season.
“The situation is the same. The table is again fake,” Mourinho said. “The table is again with lots of matches in hand.
“You look to the top part of the table and, some teams, they have more matches than others.
“In the top of the league we cannot say we need ‘X’ points to be champions.
“This, in the best league in the world, I don’t think is the best image we are giving and it’s not the best situation,” the Portuguese added.
“To play matches in hand in the last week of the season, I don’t think is adapted to this top football country.”
Nevertheless Mourinho was happy with a win that set Chelsea up for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
Chelsea face a tough task to remain among Europe’s elite after a 3-1 first-leg loss in France, a reverse that followed a shock 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace.
But Mourinho was pleased by the way his side bounced back against Stoke.
“It took us 10 or 15 minutes to recover a little bit of confidence and self-esteem after two defeats,” he said. “After that, the team played well.
“It is important because it is three points for the Premier League but it is also important because it is one thing to start the match on Tuesday after another defeat and another to start after a victory.”
Mourinho placed each of the goals Chelsea conceded in Paris in the ‘avoidable’ category but the Stoke shut-out was their eighth in a row at Stamford Bridge.
“If we concede one goal against Paris or keep a clean sheet we have a chance for success,” he added.
“If we concede two goals and have to score five then we can’t do the job. It is important to defend well against Paris.”
Mourinho had also harsh words to say about his forwards after the first leg, claiming he didn’t have any “true strikers” – a direct reference to the lack of scoring prowess of Fernando Torres and Demba Ba, neither of whom started against PSG.
Torres was recalled for the Stoke game but made little impact. Nevertheless, Mourinho was careful only to offer words of encouragement to the Spain striker this time round.
“As always, he gave everything he could,” he said. “He worked hard for the team. It was a pity he didn’t score a goal because strikers need goals.”
Stoke are not in any immediate danger of relegation as they already have 40 points, but manager Mark Hughes, a former Chelsea striker, admitted he had expected more from his side.
“I was disappointed in what we produced,” he said. “In recent weeks we have been a lot better than that.
“For whatever reason, we didn’t have enough players playing at their maximum. We weren’t able to ask enough questions of a good Chelsea team.”
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Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
Schedule:
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
The specs: 2018 Maserati Levante S
Price, base / as tested: Dh409,000 / Dh467,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 430hp @ 5,750rpm
Torque: 580Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.9L / 100km
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
