Chelsea crisis after defeat in Mourinho's absence

Chelsea crisis after defeat in Mourinho's absence

Chelsea crisis after defeat in Mourinho's absence

LONDON, Jose Mourinho's future at Chelsea
was pushed further under the spotlight on
Saturday when the manager, absent through a
stadium ban, may have watched in solitary
misery as the champions lost yet again at
Stoke City.
On a day when Jamie Vardy kept his amazing
scoring exploits going for Leicester City to help
Claudio Ranieri's side join Manchester City and
Arsenal on 25 points at the top of the Premier
League, the latest crisis for Mourinho still
eclipsed all else.
The Portuguese had said his one-match
suspension might force him to watch the match
on a street corner on his iPad but, if media
reports that he saw it at a nearby hotel are to
be believed, Marko Arnautovic's 53rd-minute
volley in Stoke's 1-0 home win will have made
for wretched viewing.
It meant Mourinho was left surveying the
wreckage of his worst-ever season in
management, an unprecedented seventh league
defeat in 12 matches being sealed by
Arnautovic's acrobatic close-range effort.
Mourinho, who received the FA ban for making
abusive comments to referee Jon Moss during
last month's defeat at West Ham United, will
have gone through agonies after Pedro hit the
post with a curling shot as Chelsea piled on late
pressure.
The defeat dropped Chelsea to fifth from
bottom, astonishingly hovering three points
above the relegation zone and placing further
question marks over the manager's future at
the club he led to championship glory just six
months ago.

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who was back at his
former club Stoke on Saturday, said Mourinho
remained the "right man" for Chelsea.
"We are behind the manager, you can see that
from our performances," said Begovic.
"His spirit and his presence is always there. We
wanted to get a result for him."
Leicester became unlikely bedfellows with
giants Manchester City and Arsenal at the top
as Vardy hammered home a 65th-minute
penalty to score for the ninth consecutive
league match and secure a 2-1 victory over
Watford.
Ranieri's Leicester are third on goal difference
behind City and Arsenal who both play on
Sunday.
VAN NISTELROOY RECORD