Middlesborough Rock Chelsea’s Boat
Chelsea crashed to their first Premiership defeat since November - and their heaviest under Jose Mourinho - when Boro unexpectedly beat them 3-0 at the Riverside.
Boro scored after only 78 seconds when Fabio Rochemback capitalised on lax defending.
Boro then extended their lead in first-half stoppage time when Stewart Downing’s speculative shot ended up in the net.
But they saved their best for last when Yakubu musceled his way past John Terry before striking low into the corner.
This was the worst defeat in the 20-momth reign of Mourinho, but the manner of the defeat was even more surprising given Chelsea had only conceded 13 goals before Saturday.
Mourinho said: “When you lose it’s always a bad day, especially when you don’t lose a lot.”
“In my time at Chelsea, this is the third defeat in the Premiership and you can say it was the worst.”
“We lost to Manchester City and didn’t desreve it. We lost to Manchester United and didn’t deserve it. We lost today 3-0 - and we did deserve it.”
Middlesborough boss Steve McClaren was understandably more upbeat: “There has always been a great spirit here and we got our just rewards today.”
“Give credit to the players for this win. Through all the criticism, all the performances and the results, we have always stuck together.”
Elsewhere there were wins for Chelsea’s nearest rivals as Liverpool beat Wigan 1-0 and Manchester United brushed aside troubled Portsmouth 3-1.
Aresenal could only manage a 1-1 draw with Bolton and any hopes of them catching either Liverpool or Man Utd must be fading fast.
Other results:
Aston Villa 1 - 2 Newcastle
Everton 1 - 0 Blackburn
Fulham 6 - 1 West Brom
Man City 3 - 2 Charlton
Sunderland 1 - 1 Tottenham
