|
Jose Mourinho has accused Manuel Pellegrini of hypocrisy for criticising his team following Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday. - Pellegrini blasts Chelsea 'small team' tactics
- Jolly: Three points from the Etihad Stadium
- 'Mixed emotions' for City saviour Lampard
- Worrall: Ratings - Terry on song for Blues The Portuguese referred to his City counterpart twice as "Mr Pellegrino" in a seemingly deliberate slip, and hit back after the Chilean branded Chelsea "a small team" for what he perceived to be defensive tactics by the Premier League leaders. Mourinho was Pellegrini's replacement at Real Madrid in 2010 and the pair have had an awkward relationship since, with the Chelsea manager claiming the 61-year-old is guilty of double standards in his comments about opponents. "Pellegrino many times says he never speaks about me and my team but he keeps doing the same thing," he told his postgame news conference. "I am the one that does as he says. I don't comment on his words. Don't ask me about his words, I am not interested in that." Mourinho used his argument to decline to discuss Frank Lampard's equaliser against his former club. The 36-year-old, who played for the Portuguese in both of his spells at Chelsea, scored 211 goals for the Blues and got his first goal for City against them to level the game. His former manager added: "I don't speak about players from other teams, I am sorry. I don't speak about Frank. To speak about Frank is to speak about my past with Frank, the player he was for what he means in my career. "I will never tire of speaking about this. But the moment he is a Man City player, he is a Man City player. I don't speak about other teams' players. Mr Pellegrino, instead of speaking about other teams' players, should speak about Frank Lampard. I am Chelsea manager, I speak about my players. My players did fantastic." Chelsea took the lead through Andre Schurrle and Mourinho attributed their failure to hold on to their advantage to the moment that top scorer Diego Costa hit the woodwork. "We hit the post with a 1-0 lead and when you don't kill matches, you are in danger, especially when you play against very good teams," he said. "We had a tactical reaction [to Pablo Zabaleta's sending off] to try to win the game. They had an emotional reaction to try not to lose the game. "We were successful in our tactical change to try and win the game because we score and had more chances to score and they were successful in their emotional reaction and I think in the end from my perspective the point is maybe a point that they deserve." Mourinho's team extended their lead at the Premier League summit to three points and despite losing their lead late on, he argued it was a positive result. "It is one point won because we arrive here leaders with two points more than [the team in] second and we leave the stadium with three points' lead," he added. "I don't look to direct opponents, I don't look to other clubs in a special way. "I look to the table and we are leaders with three points. We come here to a super-difficult stadium and a super-difficult opponent and we leave to better conditions than we arrived, so good."
|
