Stoke lost Phil Bardsley to a second yellow card moments at the end of normal time, but although Chelsea failed to make their numerical advantage count in extra time, Mourinho felt that his players had sent a message to their critics. “We have a big game on Tuesday against Chelsea, and that is the flawless game for us”, said manager Mark Hughes, hoping to bounce back from his side’s shock defeat to newly promoted Watford over the weekend.
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The Belgian’s mishap condemned Mourinho’s side to their ninth defeat in all competitions this season and saw the holders exit the tournament in the fourth round.
A shoot-out was required after Loic Remy’s stoppage-time equaliser cancelled out Jonathan Walters’ second-half opener.
There was a few poor defending from the visitors, including from captain John Terry, who backed away from his rival which in turn gave Walters time and space to apply the finish and hand the hosts the lead.
Against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Mourinho faces the game of his second spell at the club – and it looks as if he must do so without Costa. On 11 minutes Hazard found Costa on the left and his cross came off Philipp Wollscheid – it was going in until Glenn Whelan got in the way. The Irish worldwide had a chance right in front of goal, but Asmir Begovic was able to smother the shot.
Mourinho joked darkly about how Costa had injured himself, saying: “I think he punched himself in the ribs”. This latest injury may not be too serious but without him Chelsea lack menace and it only emphasises how short of attacking options they really are. They return to Stoke a week on Saturday but whether Mourinho will still be in charge remains to be seen. If we combine those two bets in a score-cast, then we get very tempting odds of 50/1.
“But Chelsea have not been scoring many lately so I always felt we were in with a shout”.
Although one has to say that it was a fine save from Jack Butland rather than a bad penalty from Eden Hazard, one could be forgiven for asking; did the Belgian winger’s miss just cost Jose Mourinho his job?
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After a goalless 90 minutes, Leicester drew first blood when Mahrez turned home after Jamie Vardy’s initial effort had been saved in the 100th minute.
