Mourinho threatens walk-out over Ivanovic

The Serb appeared to head-butt Everton's McCarthy just before Willian scored the winner

LONDON: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho threatened to walk out of his media conference as he bristled at questions about a melee involving Branislav Ivanovic in the 1-0 win over Everton.

Defender Ivanovic appeared to head-butt Everton's James McCarthy in a scuffle before Willian's 89th-minute winner preserved Chelsea's seven-point Premier League lead.

"I’m concerned with my reaction because one more question and I leave," said Mourinho.

Retrospective action by the Football Association is now a possibility, with Everton manager Roberto Martinez, who lost Gareth Barry to a late red card, strongly critical of the Serbian defender.

The Ivanovic incident came directly after referee Jonathan Moss had shown a second yellow card to Barry for a foul on Willian.

"From that moment the red card gives an unfair momentum to the home side and allows them to score a goal,” said Martinez. “And then, if you look at the images, Ivanovic's behaviour is wrong. That shouldn't be allowed.”

Despite the incident, it was a vital win for Chelsea and kept Mourinho on course for a third Premier League crown with the club.

Pellegrini urges Milner to commit

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini again urged James Milner to sign a new contract after he scored in the Premier League champions' 4-1 win at Stoke City and kept City’s title race alive.

Milner scored for the second game running, with Sergio Aguero netting twice and Samir Nasri also on target as City won a league game at Stoke for the first time in 16 years to remain seven points behind leaders Chelsea.

"When you are trying to sign a contract you need both parties to agree to it, so maybe that's why it's not so easy to get it signed," said Pellegrini. "But I repeat, the most important thing is that the club wants Milner to stay here, and he has to decide what he wants to do with his future."

Milner headed City back in front in the second half after Aguero and Stoke striker Peter Crouch had traded goals before the break.

United must improve, says two-goal Smalling

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling admitted his team's first-half performance had been unacceptable after they overcame Burnley 3-1 to reclaim third place in the Premier League.

The centre-back scored two goals, the first within 22 seconds of coming on as a fifth-minute substitute, but Louis van Gaal's side were outplayed for most of Wednesday's first half by their relegation-threatened visitors.

"The first half, we have to look at ourselves and make sure it never happens again," said Smalling. "If we can keep winning games playing that badly, then it shows that when we do play well it will all click.”

Meanwhile, West Ham held on for a 0-0 draw at Southampton despite playing the final 29 minutes with 10 men following the dismissal of goalkeeper Adrian.

Sam Allardyce's side looked in trouble when Adrian saw red for handling outside the penalty area, but the east Londoners battled gamely for a point that keeps them in contention for a place in Europe.

 

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