Jose mocks ref after shock loss

Chelsea's titles hopes torpedoed after falling to lowly Sunderland

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho angrily mocked the match officials after notching his first home defeat in the Premier League in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Sunderland.

Chelsea's defeat, which left it two points behind leader Liverpool, having played a game more, was Mourinho's first in 78 home league matches at the helm of the London club.

"I just want to say four things, and I'm sorry, because if you make me (answer) more questions, I will repeat in exactly the same way," Mourinho said shortly after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge.

"Congratulations to my players, because they gave what they have and what they don't have. Congratulations to Sunderland, because they won."

Referring to match referee Mike Dean, who awarded the 82nd-minute penalty from which Fabio Borini scored the winning goal, he said: "Congratulations to Mike Dean, because he made a fantastic performance.

"And congratulations to Mike Riley (head of refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited), because what they did during the season was fantastic for the way the championship is going.

"So congratulations to all of them, and I have nothing more to say. I'm sorry."

Samuel Eto'o gave Chelsea a 12th-minute lead, but cellar-dwelling Sunderland quickly equalized through Connor Wickham before snatching victory thanks to former Chelsea striker Borini, who is on loan from Liverpool.

There were angry scenes in the aftermath of the penalty, with Mourinho having to restrain assistant Rui Faria, who was berating Dean from the touchline.

Mourinho has had two previous run-ins with match officials this season and last week was fined and warned about his future conduct after being sent to the stands during a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa in March.

He was also fined for being sent off in a game at Cardiff City in September.

The penalty incident saw Cesar Azpilicueta penalized for sliding in alongside Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore, who lost his balance after placing his standing foot on the Chelsea fullback's leg.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet, a former Chelsea midfielder, expressed sympathy with Dean over the penalty, saying: "It was very, very tough on the referee.

"Every now and then you get it right and every now and then you don't. It was the linesman who gave it straight away.

"We can talk about it for ages and even then we don't know for sure. We need to give the benefit of the doubt to the referee."

(China Daily 04/21/2014 page23)