Chelsea's head coach Jose Mourinho, second right, talks with his coaching staff after coming back out onto the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. Liverpool won the match 3-1.
Jose
Mourinho's future as Chelsea manager was plunged into further doubt as the
troubled English champions crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Liverpool on
Saturday.
Mourinho's
mounting problems took centre stage on a dramatic day in the Premier League
which saw Manchester City stay top after escaping with a late 2-1 win against
Norwich.
Arsenal
are second, behind City on goal difference, after battering Swansea 3-0, while
misfiring Manchester United failed to find the net once again in a 0-0 draw
against Crystal Palace.
At
Stamford Bridge, Mourinho's side took an early lead through Ramires but any
hopes that would alleviate the crisis were destroyed by Philippe Coutinho.
The
Liverpool forward hit a superb equaliser in first half stoppage-time and
punished sloppy Chelsea defending to put Jurgen Klopp's team ahead in the 74th
minute.
With
Mourinho fuming that Liverpool midfielder Lucas avoided a red card for what
looked like a possible second booking at 1-1, his misery was compounded when
Christian Benteke scored Liverpool's third seven minutes from full-time.
The
Blues have now lost six of their 11 league games and are languishing four
points above the relegation zone, prompting more debate about how long Mourinho
can survive the axe from owner Roman Abramovich.
Reports
before the Liverpool game had suggested that he could be dismissed in the event
of another defeat, but, asked if he was worried about his losing his job,
Mourinho said simply, "no".
"The
fans are not stupid. They know how much myself and the players are
trying," added Mourinho, who has repeatedly denied rumours of a dressing
room mutiny.
"The
fight goes on, but sometimes there are fights very impossible to win.
"I
have some players really sad in the dressing room and I am full of respect for
them."
At
Eastlands, City defender Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring with a bullet
header in the 67th minute to notch his first goal since signing from Valencia
in August.
Norwich
snatched an 83rd minute equaliser when City goalkeeper Joe Hart spilled a
corner and Cameron Jerome punished the embarrassing blunder.
But
City hit straight back to win it when Norwich defender Russell Martin was sent
off for deliberate handball.
Yaya
Toure stroked in the resulting 89th minute penalty and there was still time for
City to miss a spot-kick in stoppage-time when Aleksandar Kolarov fired wide.
Arsenal
remain hot on City's heels as they bounced back from their shock League Cup
exit with a stroll at Swansea.
On
Sunday, Everton host Sunderland and Southampton face Bournemouth, while
managerless Aston Villa travel to Tottenham on Monday.
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