English Premier League: Chelsea on top, but Mourinho still wary of City

Hazard scores hat trick to claim 3-0 win for Blues against Newcastle.

LONDON: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists that Manchester City should still be considered Premier League title favourites despite seeing his side top the table for the first time since September.

Chelsea have signalled their title intentions in a potentially season-defining week, winning 1-0 at City before prevailing 3-0 at home to Newcastle United on Saturday.

With Arsenal crashing 5-1 at Liverpool and City dropping points in a goalless draw at Norwich City, Chelsea now find themselves on top of the standings with 13 matches of the season remaining.

However, Mourinho remains adamant that Chelsea will not win the league.

“We have only one objective, which is to finish top four,” he said. “We are playing well and have been for a long time. People individually are in a good moment and we are getting results.”

Eden Hazard struck two first-half goals against Newcastle and then completed his first treble in Chelsea’s colours from the penalty spot in the second half.

Pellegrini blames stalemate on injury woes

Manuel Pellegrini insists City’s failure to regain first place is hardly surprising after his squad was ravaged by injuries to several key players

City would have finished the weekend in first place had they beaten Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday, but instead dropped to third after settling for a point from a frustrating 0-0 draw.

It was the first time City had failed to find the net in successive games in more than two years, but Pellegrini is adamant that was mainly the result of injuries to his prolific strikers.

“Everybody has been talking about how many goals we score, and how we concede them when we defend, but the most difficult thing is scoring goals,” said Pellegrini.

“In the last two games, with our strikers not being fit, we couldn’t do it and without a goal you can’t win a game.”

Rodgers cools title talk after Liverpool rout

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers remains insistent that his team cannot win the league despite apparent evidence to the contrary in their stunning 5-1 victory over former leaders Arsenal.

The Reds raced into a 4-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes of Saturday’s game; the start of an outstanding performance that hauled Liverpool to within six points of the league summit.

Earlier in the week, Rodgers had claimed a top-four finish was his side’s only realistic goal, and he clung to his position after the game.

“We’ve been outstanding for a big part of the season,” he said. “The consistency and quality of our game has been incredible and the objective has always been to finish as high as we possibly can.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2014.

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