Costa, Mourinho in spotlight after draw with Spurs
RESULTS
LONDON: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hailed his team’s performance in Sunday’s goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur as the best of the season yet spent most of his post-match press conference fielding questions about a man who did not even play.
Out-of-form Spanish striker Diego Costa cut a disconsolate, frustrated figure in the Premier League contest at White Hart Lane, starting the game on the substitutes’ bench with his boots in his hands and ending it by throwing his training bib in Mourinho’s direction.
Costa has failed to recapture last season’s sparkling form, scoring three goals in 11 league appearances this term.
“If he wants to hurt me, it’s not (with) his bib,” Mourinho joked with reporters after the game. “I was not expecting to have a player on the bench who was jumping and singing because they’re not playing. A top player going on the bench? They’re not happy. So for me, his behaviour was normal.”
SANCHEZ INJURED IN ARSENAL DRAW
Arsenal lost Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny to injury in a 1-1 draw at Norwich City on Sunday that prevented them drawing level with Premier League leaders Manchester City. Tottenham 0 West Ham 1 Zarate 17
Liverpool 1 Milner 62-pen
Norwich 1 Grabban 43
Chelsea 0 West Brom 1
Reid 50-og
Sanchez set up Mesut Ozil for Arsenal’s 30th-minute opener at Carrow Road, but after Lewis Grabban had equalised just before half-time, the influential Chilean left the fray clutching his right hamstring.
Arsenal finished the weekend two points below City in fourth place, with Leicester City and Manchester United between them, having squandered an opportunity to move level on points with Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Liverpool had much happier injury news to report in their 1-0 home win over Swansea City as they welcomed back England internationals Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturrige from injury.