LIVERPOOL • Jose Mourinho has claimed that he is being judged unfairly by critics, after Manchester United conceded a late Leighton Baines penalty in a damaging 1-1 Premier League draw at Everton.
The Red Devils have won just twice in the league since the end of August, a run which has featured numerous draws and has derailed the 20-time English champions' hopes of winning a title in the Portuguese manager's debut season at Old Trafford.
However, Mourinho, who earned a reputation for not always winning in the most attractive style when in charge of Chelsea, insists his side are playing well and that he is being held to a double standard.
"You have to make a decision because when my teams are playing pragmatic football and winning matches and winning titles, you say it is not right and nice," Mourinho said.
"When my teams play very, very well... there is a huge change in relation to the past two or three years and now you say what matters is to get a result, no matter what."
United had only themselves to blame for their latest disappointment as late substitute Marouane Fellaini tripped Idrissa Gueye in the box and Baines struck the equalising penalty.
Mourinho, whose side are 13 points behind leaders Chelsea, did not take kindly to questions about his decision to bring on the Belgian for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Regarding the tackle, he said: "I didn't see."
Fellaini's former Everton team-mate Leon Osman, however, was not surprised by the midfielder's clumsiness.
"Fellaini's always been clumsy like that," Osman told Sky Sports.
"He was like that in training. If you came up against him, he was likely to stand on your toes or give you a dead leg."
Mourinho was also asked whether defender Marcos Rojo should have been shown a red card for a two-footed challenge on Gueye in the first half and the defiant Portuguese also replied: "I didn't see."
Everton's equaliser in the 89th minute cancelled out the opening goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a strong spell from United, who also saw Ander Herrera hit the post.
"It was another game with a very good performance in a very difficult place to play," said Mourinho.
"We are playing very well at home, being super dominant. We are playing very well away controlling matches and performing really well with some amazing performances."
The United manager, however, insisted that his side, who are sixth in the standings, deserved much better. "We're getting draws instead of deserving victories and opponents are leaving the stadium super happy with draws they don't deserve," he added.
"We go back to work. We have to score more goals."
Everton manager Ronald Koeman felt that Rojo could have been sent off, but overall was pleased with the resolve from his side who have won just one of their last nine league matches.
"It is difficult," said the Dutchman. "Maybe if the referee watches it back, it will be a red card. We always have discussions if it is red or yellow, a penalty or not, but finally I think it is a fair result at 1-1.
"First of all we need to improve and that was much better today than last week. We played really very compact and it was difficult for the opponent to create any big chances.
"You saw a lack of confidence on the ball. That is all about the last few results but we will get that back if we show the fighting spirit."
THE TIMES, LONDON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
