Chelsea pour scorn on old hero Jose Mourinho
Chelsea’s love affair with Jose Mourinho is well and truly over after a rare N’Golo Kante goal settled this FA Cup quarter-final and kept Antonio Conte’s side on course for the League and Cup double.
Chelsea will face Tottenham in the semi-final, with Manchester City and Arsenal meeting in the other semi.
Mourinho, who dubbed himself the Special One when he reigned as Chelsea manager until December 2015, was taunted on and off the pitch as his tactics for this FA Cup quarter-final backfired following a first half red card for Ander Herrera.
The two bookings might have seemed harsh from referee Michael Oliver, but they were both for fouls on Eden hazard and the United manager appeared to have sent his players out on a mission to kick the midfield maestro out of the match.
Mourinho took a dig at the Chelsea fans afterwards for calling him Judas, saying he is still “number one”.
“They can say what they want. I’m professional and when they have someone that wins four Premier Leagues, (until then) I am number one — Judas is still number one until then.
“I left chelsea in the Champions League and could have won it so it’s not my fault Chelsea are not in Champions League this season. We did not do so well in league and I share responsibility for that.”
‘You’re not special anymore’ sang sections of the Chelsea faithful before raising the roof for repeatedly chanting ‘Antonio, Antonio’ for their new favourite boss.
The managers clashed on the touchline to add to the drama, but it will be the Italian proudly leading his team out for next month’s Wembley semi-final against Spurs.
There was a crackling atmosphere throughout, thanks largely to the 6,000-strong Manchester United contingent having the entire away end in a 40,801 capacity crowd.
And they had most to cheer early on as a sustained spell of United possession kept Chelsea on the back foot and deep in their own half.
And the first player to go close to scoring was United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who fizzed a low shot wide of Thibaut Courtois’ left hand post after 12 minutes.
With Mourinho prowling his technical area like a man on a mission, his players had a similar attitude as they played a high line and snapped into a series of tackles whenever Chelsea had the ball.
The one-way traffic was always unlikely to last, however, against such a talented side as Chelsea’s and United suddenly found themselves having to do some desperate defending, first from a brilliant Hazard run and shot, which deflected inches wide for a corner.
David de Gea then made one of the saves of the season to deny Nemanja Matic with a low stop from close range.
Mourinho had pulled a fast one before kick off by naming Marcus Rashford in attack, having arrived in London supposedly without a fit or available striker in his squad.
He then gave defender Phil Jones a licence to roam midfield to keep an eye on the ever-dangerous Hazard.
At times it appeared that any United player anywhere near the diminutive Belgian midfielder had been detailed to give him a whack.
Mourinho was piqued at jeers from Chelsea fans and responded angrily by giving them a prolonged three-finger salute before repeatedly pointing to the pitch to signify the Premier League titles he won in charge here.
The Chelsea faithful responded with a choruses of ‘We are top of the league’ and ‘Judas.’
Childish stuff, but all good entertainment as Mourinho and Conte then simultaneously gave poor fourth official Jones a full blast ear-bashing following another crunching tackle in midfield.
The the wheels came off as Herrera dished out some more treatment on Hazard to receive a second yellow card and was sent off.
Mourinho stopped wailing long enough to sacrifice Mkhitaryan for sub Marouane Fellaini but then he was involved in a touchline row with Conte.
Jones separated the rowing duo and called over Oliver to give them a telling off.
Somehow the two managers cooled down sufficiently to prevent Oliver from sending them to the stands too, but the balance of power was now firmly in Conte’s court.
Mourinho tried one of his all-time favourite tactics for the start of the second half when he tried to ‘park the bus’ to prevent Chelsea from overwhelming his 10 men.
But he forgot to take account for Kante, who broke the deadlock only six minutes after the restart.
The Frenchman had only scored once for Chelsea before so maybe United did not expect him to shoot from 25 yards. They should have done, for his first goal was also against the men in red.
Now Mourinho’s plans were in tatters, a goal down and a man down with Chelsea confidently spraying the ball around a perfect Stamford Bridge pitch.
A second goal seemed inevitable, but not before Rashford created a great chance to equalise after roasting Luiz and Gary Cahill before forcing a Courtois into a save on the hour.
With that ended United’s Cup dream as Chelsea passed them to a slow and painful death.
It is clear that relations between the two managers are far from cordial.
“I will shake his hands when I see him though I have nothing to say for him,” said Mourinho afterwards.
Conte was equally cold in his assessment when asked about his clash with the Portuguese. “I don’t have to send any message to anyone.”
Courtois 7, Azpilicueta 6, Luiz 6, Cahill 6; Moses 7 (Zouma 88, 6), Kante 9, Matic 8, Alonso 7; Willian 6 (Fabregas 80, 6), Costa 5 (Batshuayi 90, 6), Hazard 8.
De Gea 8; Jones 7, Smalling 6, Rojo 6; Darmian 6, Herrera 6, Pogba 5, Darmian 5; Young 5 (Lingard 81, 6), Mkhitaryan 5 (Fellaini 37, 6), Rashford 7.
Michael Oliver 7/10
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
