Mourinho's men within touching distance of title
Jose Mourinho watched his Chelsea side beat Fulham to move within touching distance of the Premiership title – and then moaned about the Blues’ “ridiculous” mid-day kick-off.
Chelsea were not at their best. But inspired by second-half substitute Arjen Robben, Frank Lampard and Eidur Gudjohnsen, they grabbed the second-half goals which sealed a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.
The win means Chelsea will clinch the title without kicking a ball on Monday night unless Arsenal beat Tottenham in the north London derby at Highbury.
But Mourinho’s mood afterwards belied the Blues’ impending title triumph as he railed against the fixture planners who required his side to tackle Arsenal on Wednesday night and then Fulham this lunchtime.
“A team that plays at 8pm on Wednesday night and then has to play at 12.45 on Saturday … it is too much,” said Mourinho.
“A minimum (for recovery) is that we would have played tonight, not 12.45 – so that (the 12.45 kick-off) is ridiculous,” he told Sky Sports.
“Over the 90 minutes Fulham didn’t deserve to lose. They had the fresher legs. I think the result we got is incredible and magnificent and down to the players’ character – because at half-time they were dead (on their feet). I said to them that the only chance (of winning) was for them to play to their full potential.”
Collins John cancelled out Joe Cole’s first-half opener with an equaliser four minutes minutes before half-time, with Chelsea clearly not firing on all cylinders – and Robben’s comeback from injury after the break injected some much-needed energy into the team.
“I am happy that Robben is back and that in the second half he could give us a little bit of sharpness. It was very important for the team,” Mourinho added.
“We deserve to be champions playing better, giving a very good performance at home, but I think the supporters understand that it was not easy to do today.”
“We go to the hotel on Monday to concentrate on the Liverpool game, and maybe it is better that Arsenal beat Tottenham,” added Mourinho.
Chelsea captain John Terry disagreed with Mourinho and revealed he will, for the first time in his life, be rooting for Spurs on Monday.
“It’s never happened before, but I will cheering for Spurs on Monday. I hope Spurs will do us a favour.”
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