Jose Mourinho watches from stands as Chelsea’s loss tops EPL action
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho faces more trouble from the English Football Association after being sent to the stands as the champions’ poor Premier League form worsened on Saturday with a 2–1 loss at West Ham.
On a day when London rival Arsenal went provisionally top of the standings, Mourinho was red-carded at halftime after Cesc Fabregas had a goal disallowed for offside, moments before Chelsea teammate Nemanja Matic was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The Chelsea manager watched the second half from the stands, before leaving his spot eight minutes from the end. His assistant first-team coach, Silvino Louro, was also dismissed, when Matic was red-carded.
Mourinho will almost certainly face repercussions from the FA as the incident follows a suspended sentence from earlier this month. The Portuguese coach was fined 50,000 pounds ($77,000) and given a suspended one-match stadium ban for comments about referee Robert Madley following a 3–1 loss at home to Southampton.
• Bayern Munich wins 1,000th Bundesliga match, extends record start
He did not appear for the news conference after Saturday's game.
Mauro Zarate gave West Ham the lead before Fabregas thought he had equalized. Gary Cahill then leveled for Chelsea 10 minutes into the second half before Andy Carroll headed the winning goal in the 79th.
“Cesc’s goal, we thought it was marginal and the second yellow card (for Matic), we thought the referee had carried on (play),” Cahill said. “We don't feel sorry for ourselves, we can’t. It is just a bit of frustration, it is the way the season is going at the moment. The luck is certainly not with us and we work even harder to turn it around. It is a tough time at the minute.”
Manchester derby features captains under pressure, eager new signings
In Saturday’s late match, Arsenal beat Everton 2–1 at the Emirates Stadium to go top of the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s games.
Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny scored in the 36th and 38th minutes for Arsenal, before Ross Barkley’s deflected strike before halftime gave Everton hope of a comeback.
But Arsenal held on against Roberto Martinez's side, which had Gareth Barry sent off in stoppage time.
“I was bit edgy because I thought the last 20 minutes could be difficult and we could not score the third goal,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
“I’m very proud of the players today because they showed focus and they were a little bit jaded physically (after winning against Bayern Munich on Tuesday). We were caught on the counterattack 2–0 up and that was less comfortable.”
Wenger’s side leads the table with 22 points, ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday. City, on 21 points, faces United, with 19 points, at Old Trafford.
Thiago on his complex background, being healthy, Bayern Munich's start
Chelsea, meanwhile, is 15th on 11 points from 10 matches and bookmakers have made Mourinho the second-favorite to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked.
The current favorite is Aston Villa’s Tim Sherwood.
Villa lost its sixth league game in a row in a 2–1 defeat at home to Swansea as the pressure intensified on Sherwood.
His side went ahead when Jordan Ayew scored a diving header in the 62nd minute, moments after his brother, Andre Ayew of Swansea, saw a one-on-one chance denied by United States goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
But Gylfi Sigrudsson scored a stunning free kick six minutes later before Andre Ayew got the winner three minutes from the end.
• CAULDRON: Unlucky Harry Kane is poised for goal-scoring binge
“It is not about me personally, it is about the football club and the players, we are all in it together and we are in a bit of a mess at the moment,” Sherwood said.
Elsewhere, Jamie Vardy took his scoring form to nine goals in seven games as Leicester beat Crystal Palace 1–0.
Norwich lost 1–0 at home to West Brom and Watford won 2–0 at Stoke.
