LONDON: Jose Mourinho played down an ugly touchline melee after watching his Manchester United side concede a heartbreaking late equalizer as Chelsea preserved their unbeaten Premier League record on Saturday.
Ross Barkley scored in the sixth minute of injury time to level the match at 2-2 after Anthony Martial had scored twice in the second half to cancel out Antonio Rudiger’s opener.
Mourinho took exception to the celebrations of one of Chelsea’s backroom staff, Marco Ianni, who ran in front of the Portuguese on the touchline, as he seemed set for a sweet victory over his old club.
When asked about the incident, former Chelsea boss Mourinho said: “Oh come on, I can tell you that 97 minutes of the game was so good that you have to focus on that.
“I did not get respect back from Chelsea (fans) but that is not my responsibility. What I did here today I will do in Madrid, in Milan, in Porto, the reaction from the fans is not up to me.
“I am not annoyed with anything. What happened with (Maurizio) Sarri’s assistant, Sarri was the first one to come to me and say he will resolve it.
“The assistant has already come to me and apologized, I told him to forget it. I have made a lot of mistakes in my career.”
Mourinho, who won three Premier League titles in two spells at Chelsea, said United were the better side.
“We were the best team on the pitch. If you say before the game that one point at Stamford Bridge is a good result, it is so difficult to win here but after the game with the way the game was it is an awful result for us and a phenomenal result for them.
“We were in the game, we controlled their triggers, (Eden) Hazard and Jorginho was well controlled.
“After we were 2-1 up we had possibilities to score the third goal, we were the best team, we were calm in control.
“I hope every referee does the same as Mike Dean and gives six minutes, I don’t know where they came from. We always tried to play, there was no time-wasting.”
The result means Chelsea go top of the table, at least temporarily, but United are still languishing in eighth spot, seven points off the pace.
Chelsea goalscorer Barkley hailed his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“My confidence has grown but our target was to win the game so it is disappointing,” he said.
“The manager told me to help the team win the game and try and get a result. We conceded a goal that we should have stopped but we came back.”
Jose Mourinho plays down touchline melee after ‘awful’ Chelsea draw
Jose Mourinho plays down touchline melee after ‘awful’ Chelsea draw
- Mourinho took exception to the celebrations of one of Chelsea’s backroom staff, Marco Ianni
- Ross Barkley scored in the sixth minute of injury time to level the match at 2-2
Nabucco Al-Maury has second crack at glory on Saudi Cup weekend
- French challenger aiming to go one better in the $1.5m Group 1 Al-Mneefah Cup
RIYADH: French raider Nabucco Al-Maury (FR) returns to Riyadh on Feb. 13 hoping to go one better than last year when finishing runner-up to RB Kingmaker (US) in the $1.5-million group one Al-Mneefah Cup, presented by the Ministry of Culture.
Trained in 2025 by Hamad Al-Jehani, the 6-year-old son of Assy (QA) joined the yard of Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte in Mont-de-Marsan last spring where he has continued to thrive.
Although he has not managed to reach the top step of the podium in the last couple of seasons, he has remained consistent. His last run in the group one The President Cup in December in Abu Dhabi, behind local champion HM Alchahine (FR), was particularly eye-catching.
“That was a really good performance,” said the French handler, who will also saddle the mare Lacaro du Croate (FR) in the 2,100-meter turf race.
“I didn’t train Nabucco Al-Maury when he came to Riyadh last year. He arrived in my yard in the spring, and we have progressively worked our way to the top.
“He has improved with each of his runs. His second place behind HM Alchahine was very good. We beat RB Kingmaker quite easily, which we hadn’t done before, so that was a great result.”
The Helal & Tahnon Alalawi-trained RB Kingmaker (US) will again feature amongst his opponents in the Al-Mneefah Cup. “I know that he is in it,” said the trainer.
“We beat him quite easily in Abu Dhabi, but he probably needed that race and we know he runs well in Riyadh.
“Maybe he will transform himself there. And I know that there is the very good mare of Alban de Mieulle, RB Mary Lylah (US), in the field, so we shall see.”
The only French-based trainer with runners in the two events for Purebred Arabians this year, he is also looking forward to saddling the 5-year-old mare Lacaro du Croate in the Al-Mneefah.
A winner of the group one Criterium des Pouliches – Wathba Stallions at La Teste in France last July, she has just made her seasonal reappearance in a conditions race at Pau where she finished second to dual Triple Crown champion Al-Ghadeer (FR).
“It was a good performance,” added the trainer. “She only saw Al-Ghadeer’s behind but that was to be expected. He did his job, she did hers. In fact, she did what we asked her to do.”
With exceptionally heavy rainfalls continuing across the southwest of France, their trainer decided last week to take both contenders to the Pau racecourse for a final blow-out.
“It’s just terrible how much rain we have had. Last weekend I was supposed to go away but then decided, no, I’m taking my horsebox and I’m going to drive to Pau to work them properly.
“Luckily, the jockeys were great and went along with my plan. They enjoyed a good gallop and are in good order.”
While Nabucco Al-Maury and Lacaro du Croate had to brave the difficult weather in France, Moshrif (FR), who is Thomas-Demeaulte’s runner in the $2 million group one Obaiya Arabian Classic, presented by Al-Hammadi Hospitals, has enjoyed the ambient temperatures in Riyadh.
“He has been in Riyadh for a while,” said the trainer. “We took him there for the prep race on Jan. 9, where he finished fifth. I hadn’t worked him a lot since he won his race in Morocco last year, so he wasn’t 100 percent fit yet, but it was still a good performance.”
The 8-year-old is a regular in Riyadh where he was the runner-up to the great Tilal Al-Khalediah in the 2024 running of the Al-Mneefah Cup, but this time he will tackle top-class opposition on dirt.
“He proved when ran in January that he can handle the dirt. He has been in Riyadh since that last run and I went out there 10 days ago to see how he was. He is in good form and I was very happy with him,” added Thomas-Demeaulte.
