Chelsea had plenty of possession but Newcastle’s rugged defending kept Jose Mourinho’s side in check until the closing stages, when the hosts were very much on the ropes.
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Manager José Mourinho continued his unwanted record of failing to win a Premier League game at St.James’ Park as his Chelsea FC side came from behind to earn a point in an exciting 2-2 draw on Saturday.
And speaking ahead of the Group G clash, Costa’s teammate Fabregas revealed the Brazilian-born Spain global had been left “frustrated” at his situation and insisted the FA’s punishment was unfair. It’s very unfair what happened to him.
“We didn’t start well but in the second half we dominated and played better”.
In his press conference Steve McClaren spoke about kick-starting their campaign, “We have got to take the bull by the horns and give a reaction, starting now and finishing on Saturday night”.
The Blues won their first European game of the season 4-0 against Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge, although their domestic form has not impressed as they’re placed 15th in the Premier League. At this moment we have fantastic players.
Mourinho later admitted the first-half performance at St James’ Park was Chelsea’s worst under his management, rating it as “minus one” and adding: “When you have so many bad individual performances, it’s impossible for a team to be a team”. “He told me I was making the same mistakes as him”, remarked Zouma.
Asked whether there were any similarities between the pair, Lopetegui said: “I’m not going to answer that, other than to say Mr Mourinho is a wonderful coach and did great things at Porto“.
“We are training well, motivated”. Players who gave us the title last season – and no doubts about it – but football is about today, not about yesterday.
“If we play like we did in the second half, we can win every match this season”, he said.
The Magpies have lost four games in a row and their only win under McClaren was against League Two side Northampton in the same competition.
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“The performance against Chelsea is the reaction we should have shown two or three weeks ago, but at least we’re showing something”.
