Jose Mourinho tore a strip off his strikers after watching Manchester United slump to a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.
The result, coupled with Manchester City’s 5-1 thrashing of Leicester on Saturday, effectively ends the title race. The Sky Blues are now 16 points clear of second-placed United and, with just 11 matches left in the campaign, they would have to spectacularly explode in the home stretch to allow United to overhaul them.
Given that City have lost just once in their 27 matches this season, the chances of that happening are thinner than Mourinho’s patience.
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The United gaffer didn’t pull any punches when asked for his analysis on yesterday’s defeat. “My verdict is that we could’ve been here for 10 hours and not scored a goal,” he muttered. “Newcastle played with their lives and defended with their lives. They got from us a defensive mistake and from a lateral free-kick they scored.”
Mourinho, who has never tasted league success at St James’ Park, then took a sly dig at his side in praising the Magpies, saying: “They fought like animals and I mean that as a compliment… they must have an amazing feeling after giving absolutely everything.”
It that wasn’t enough, he also found time to name and shame Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial for wasting glorious opportunities, labelling the Frenchman’s miss just before the break as “incredible”.
And Paul Pogba was once more making headlines for the wrong reason, the French midfielder being substituted in the second half after an insipid display. Asked if injury was the reason Pogba was replaced by Michael Carrick, Mourinho replied: “No. No problems. I wanted a better way to come out in the first phase against a team that was defending in a very compact block.”
Matt Ritchie scored the only goal of the game, capitalising on good build-up work from Jonjo Shelvey and Dwight Gayle to fire home on 65 minutes to seal Newcastle’s first home win since October.
The three points lifts the Magpies out of the relegation zone into 16th spot and manager Rafa Benitez was naturally delighted with his side’s performance.
“Amazing effort,” he said. “We had games in the past when we conceded late. We got lucky with some shots, but we showed the character, the commitment and the desire.”
Liverpool close the gap
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s stroll-in-the-park win at Southampton moves them above Tottenham into third, just two points behind United.
First-half goals from Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah decided the contest, and Reds boss Jurgen Klopp described it as a “controlled” performance.
As for catching Mourinho’s men, the German said: “I didn’t know United had lost before the game but we know we’re not far away. We play against them one more time this season at least, so that’s good… we just need to make sure we keep on winning to keep up the pressure.”
Predictably, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was booed on his return to Southampton after his transfer last month to Anfield, but the Dutchman didn’t mind given the outcome of the game.
“You just enjoy it, it’s the only thing I think you can do,” he said. “I think it is a bit unfair because no one really knows what happened over the summer and the last few months but I just kept my head down and enjoyed it.”
Premier League results
- Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 0
- Everton 3 Crystal Palace 1
- Stoke City 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
- Swansea City 1 Burnley 0
- West Ham United 2 Watford 0
- Manchester City 5 Leicester City 1
- Huddersfield Town 4 AFC Bournemouth 1
- Newcastle United 1 Manchester United 0
- Southampton 0 Liverpool 2
Tonight’s Premier League fixture
