Mourinho: The best team lost

Jose Mourinho has pointed the finger at the Newcastle ball boys after seeing Chelsea lose their unbeaten record this season and added: "The best team lost".

After a bright start at St James' Park, Chelsea struggled to assert their authority and Newcastle established a two-goal lead through Papiss Cisse's 57th and 78th minute-strikes.

Chelsea threatened a comeback when Steven Taylor received a second yellow card on 81 minutes and Didier Drogba then headed home from Cesc Fabregas' free kick, but the hosts - who had to field debutant goalkeeper Jak Alnwick for the second half - held on for a memorable win.

"We were unlucky," said Mourinho. "The best team lost. The team that tried to win lost. That's football.

"It's the kind of defeat that's easy to accept - we were unlucky. We conceded goals the only time they crossed the line."

Mourinho, who has never won at Newcastle in the Premier League, said the ball boys had made it difficult for his side.

"We wanted to play more football but it was not possible because a few things I thought didn't belong any more to top-level football but still belongs - the ball disappeared, the ball doesn't come, another ball comes, the ball boys run away - these kind of situations that unfortunately are still part of the game. But no complaints," he said.

He stressed that he did not blame his players for the result.

"My players tried everything. I have no complaints," he said. "Congratulations to Newcastle. That's it. I would be disappointed if the first defeat arrived with a referee mistake or my team being complacent, but we were unlucky.

"The goals were strange rebounds and bounces. We were just unlucky. That's crystal clear. One day we will be lucky."

It was Newcastle's third successive league win at home against Chelsea, and Alan Pardew hailed his side's display.

"That was about character [and] discipline against the best team in probably Europe at the moment," Pardew told BT Sport. "At the start of the game I felt we stood off them a little bit and [Eden] Hazard was getting a lot of joy but we stuck at it and we were always a threat on the break."

Blues beaten, Arsenal stunned

Chelsea's unbeaten start to the Premier League season came to an end as Newcastle ran out 2-1 winners at St James' Park, while Stoke stunned Arsenal 3-2.

Papiss Cisse was the hero of St James' Park with goals on 57 and 78 minutes, and the home side did well to hang on in the closing stages after Steven Taylor was dismissed. 

Didier Drogba scored with seven minutes remaining but Newcastle held on well to claim the points to end Chelsea's unbeaten record and move into seventh place

Arsenal's poor record at Stoke City continued as they were beaten 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at the Britannia Stadium.

The Gunners appeared set for a heavy defeat when Bojan (35) and Jon Walters (45) added to a Peter Crouch goal inside 20 seconds for Mark Hughes' men.

Bojan thought he had a fourth, only to see it ruled out, and Arsenal staged a late rally with Santi Cazorla scoring from the spot on 68 and Aaron Ramsey grabbing a second two minutes later.

Arsenal had Calum Chambers dismissed for a second yellow card but continued to pile on the pressure, only to see their rally fall short.

Charlie Austin had a mixed day for QPR in their 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Burnley, scoring one of their goals before being sent off against his former side.

Leroy Fer gave Harry Redknapp's side the lead on 51 and Austin made it 2-0 on 74, moments before he saw red for catching Michael Keane with a flailing arm.

Goals were hardly the order of the day in the other three 3pm kick-offs with Hull City, West Brom, Liverpool, Sunderland, Tottenham and Crystal Palace all coming up blank.

Allan McGregor was the hero for Hull City as he saved a Graham Dorrans penalty in their 0-0 draw withWest Brom at the KC Stadium.

Dorran was afforded the chance for the struggling Baggies in the ninth minute but McGregor made the right decision to dive to his left and deny the Scotsman a goal.

Liverpool's brief winning run came to an end as they were held 0-0 by Sunderland in a game most at Anfield will want to forget.

Barely a shot on target was registered in the 90 minutes but Sunderland were left to rue a couple of golden wasted chances, Wes Brown heading over from close range and Jordi Gomez forcing a decent save from Simon Mignolet.

And a few boos rang out at the end of proceedings at White Hart Lane where Roberto Soldado wasted a series of chances in Tottenham's 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.

Spurs have struggled all season on home turf and Palace came closest to a goal in the second half when Jason Puncheon's eight-yard effort crashed off the underside of the crossbar - the same player was also denied a goal by an offside flag.

Robben warns Guardiola: Don't start rotating me

Arjen Robben has warned Pep Guardiola not to start rotating him as he believes his best form for Bayern Munich comes with consistent game-time.

The Dutch winger, 30, has been in arguably the form of his life during the past 18 months, having scored the winner in the 2012-13 Champions League final before leading Bayern to four trophies last season and Netherlands to third place at the World Cup.

However, competition for places in the Bayern set-up is strong with Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze and Xherdan Shaqiri all capable of playing out wide for Guardiola.

The former Barcelona boss felt his players were suffering from fatigue in their narrow win over Hertha Berlin but Robben is adamant that he does not need to be rested from first-team duties.

"Rotation is be for me," he told Kicker. "I need this constant rhythm, I grow stronger and my flow comes from playing all of the time.

"I just need a break in between games, however, as that helps the mind and body recover."

Guardiola's side have soared clear in the Bundesliga title race this season after claiming the prize in record time in 2013-14, and Robben is eager to stay with the club as long as possible in order to work with the man he believes to be football's best tactician.

"Guardiola, for me, is tactically the best in the world," Robben added. "He is a perfectionist.

"The advantage this season is that we no longer have to get used to each other us. This season we have improved in possession and we have more peace of mind.

"Guardiola works very hard, he prepares us superbly. Guardiola understands where spaces in the field open up. That's what he had as a player, too.

"My contract is valid until 2017 and as long as he's here I want to work with him."

Bayern face third-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday as they look to maintain their seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

Didier Drogba: Jose Mourinho says Chelsea will retain striker

The 36-year-old Drogba, in his second spell at the club, scored as Chelsea beat Tottenham 3-0 on Wednesday. 

"The important thing is he is here and will finish his career with Chelsea," said Mourinho, whose team top the Premier League by six points.

Mourinho added: "It looks, for me, that he's going to stay doing other things when he finishes his career."

Drogba won 10 trophies in his first spell at Chelsea between 2004 and 2012, and scored 157 goals in 341 games. He rejoined the club at the start of the season after leaving Turkish side Galatasaray.

Since returning to Stamford Bridge, the Ivorian has netted five times and set up Eden Hazard's opener against Spurs.

The league leaders are now unbeaten in 23 games in all competitions, equalling a club record.

"It's remarkable," said Mourinho, when asked about Drogba's displays. "First of all, he's a team player. He's not selfish, not vain. He's a humble guy who plays for the team, fights for the team. He's fantastic.

"I was expecting exactly this. I played against him at Real Madrid and I could feel the kind of potential he still has."

Mourinho also confirmed Gary Cahill suffered no lasting damage after the defender was substituted at half-time against Tottenham following an earlier clash of heads with Jan Vertonghen.

"No concussion, no need for special care," Mourinho said. "He was just feeling maybe afraid of heading the ball."

Sergio Aguero has revealed he will try and convince compatriot Lionel Messi to move to the Premier League.

The Barcelona star and four-time Ballon d'Or winner has been linked with a move away from Camp Nou afterhe claimed he did not know what the future had in store for him.

Messi has previously stated that he would love to retire at the Liga club, but his recent comments have since thrown that into doubt

Aguero's club Manchester City have been among those linked with a possible move for 27-year-old, with Goal revealing that the Premier League champions went on a charm offensive when they hosted the Argentina national side in November.

And Aguero himself admitted he would love for his fellow countryman to move to the Premier League, though he realises it will be difficult to persuade him.

"It's a tough ask. I'll try and convince him," he said after winning the Football Supporters' Federation Player of the Year award.

"You want the best players to be playing in the Premier League. I'll certainly try and convince him."

Jose Mourinho: It is 'impossible' for Chelsea to match Arsenal's unbeaten season

CHELSA manager Jose Mourinho believes going a full Premier League season unbeaten is impossible.

The Blues are yet to lose after 13 games of the campaign and are in sight of replicating Arsenal's 'Invincibles' class of 2003/04.

They have drawn just three league ties all campaign - including 1-1 results at Manchester City and Manchester United - winning the other 10.

And Mourinho outlined his desire to continue winning games rather than battle out draws ahead of Chelsea's clash with Tottenham tonight.

He said: "One thing is that I don't think it's possible (to complete a season unbeaten). The other thing is that we are not playing for that.

"If (against Spurs) we have a 0-0 with 20 minutes to go, we are not going to play for the 0-0 to be undefeated after 21 matches. No way.

"If you play for that, if that is one objective, maybe you draw so many matches, you don't take risks to try and win matches. You are happy just to be undefeated.

"If you get 10 draws, you get 10 points. If you win five and lose five, you make 15 points.

"We are going to play matches to win. And, sometimes, we will lose.

"I'd prefer 15 points and lost matches than 10 points and being undefeated."

Arsenal drew 12 of their 38 fixtures in the 2003/04 season.

Who Should Win “Coach of the Year”?

Below is a statistics comparison in the year 2014 between the 3 coaches shortlisted for FIFA’s Coach of the Year award: Carlo Ancelotti, Diego Simeone, and Joachim Loew. Ancelotti’s 3 main points going for him to win the award is the Champions League win (of course) which he achieved in dominating fashion, the fact that he’s likely to finish the year with 4 titles as Real Madrid compete for the Club World Cup in December, and the fact that he is the only coach in Real Madrid history to win 16 matches in a row. Joachim Loew’s sole and perhaps most important claim out of all the 3 coaches was quite simple the World Cup. The biggest prize in world football is the World Cup and Loew achieved it in scintillating fashion with a Germany side that was compact, entertaining, consistent, and most of all deserving of the title. Diego Simeone’s claim rests on the simple fact that he carried Atletico, a team that wasn’t even a ‘major player’ on the European scene, to the La Liga title over both Real Madrid and Barcelona. He also orchestrated their path to the Champions League final where they were just 2 minutes away from winning it, and finally the Supercopa win earlier this season vs Real Madrid.

All 3 of these coaches are very deserving of the award but who will get it? This statistical comparison included below isn’t a definit answer to that question but it may help you compare the 3 coaches statistics in the calendar year of 2014.