His team had been sucker-punched by Arsenal, but Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho could not resist one last dig at his opposite number, Arsene Wenger.
“Finally, I lost against Arsene,” Mourinho said as he left an Old Trafford press conference following a 1-1 draw he said felt “like a defeat.”
“Finally, I lost against Arsenal,” he said.
Photo: EPA
Saturday’s result in fact extended Mourinho’s unbeaten run against Wenger’s Arsenal to 12 league games, but that was of little consolation after a contest United dominated.
Juan Mata gave them a deserved 69th-minute lead, but with a minute to go, substitute Olivier Giroud headed in an equalizer. It was Arsenal’s first effort on target.
It has become a recurring theme for United, who have drawn three consecutive home games in the league for the first time since April 1992.
Maddeningly, in those three games — a 0-0 stalemate with Burnley and 1-1 draws against Stoke City and Arsenal — they have had a total of 74 attempts at goal to their opponents’ 19.
United remain sixth in the table, six points below fourth-placed Arsenal and eight points behind the leaders, Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool.
However, Mourinho believes it is only misfortune that is keeping his team from the UEFA Champions League places.
“At this moment, we all know internally we are the unlucky team in the Premier League,” said Mourinho, who was missing injured centerbacks Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly, as well as the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“We just focus on Burnley, Stoke and Arsenal — nine points, easily. If we have six points more, we are top four and close to the top of the league,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, we know that. We have lots of kids that are mistake-prone. We also know we have some amazing players that turn 33, 34.”
“We know that other teams are prepared with much different conditions. How long is Mr Wenger with this team? How long is Mauricio [Pochettino] with Tottenham? How long is Klopp with his team?” he added. “Chelsea and Liverpool don’t play in Europe. They have one week to work, to rest, to prepare. If you remember what Brendan Rodgers did with Liverpool two seasons ago, also in a season where Liverpool didn’t have Europe, they’re in a privileged position to improve their teams. The level and experience of Man City. We are in a very difficult Premier League. I know, the players know, the board knows, the owners know. By the reaction of the Man United fans, they know. We are very confident. We are very, very, very happy with our work and better results will arrive, for sure.”
Mourinho stopped short of naming names, but the “mistake-prone” comment was a reference to Marcus Rashford, left for dead by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the buildup to Arsenal’s equalizer.
Wenger praised Arsenal’s “never-give-up attitude,” but he could not explain why it took them until the 89th minute to threaten David de Gea’s goal.
“Had we a mental block here because for a while it didn’t go well for us? Was it fatigue or a mental switch-on problem after the international break?” Wenger asked. “Some players came back late on Thursday, and we traveled on Friday morning and played on Saturday morning. It’s short, but I don’t think it’s an explanation. I felt that Man United defended very well as well.”
The game’s main point of contention arrived in the 35th minute, when Antonio Valencia nutmegged Nacho Monreal and then went down as the Arsenal leftback threw his arm across him.
Referee Andre Marriner waved United’s appeals away and although he made his anger clear on the touchline, Mourinho refused to criticize the official after the game.
“My view was it was not a penalty,” Wenger said. “You will not be surprised by that. Mourinho’s view is that it was a penalty and you will not be surprised by that.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two