Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho spoke to the press following his side’s stunning loss to Bradford City in the FA Cup, and noted that this defeat was one of the worst he had ever endured as a manager.
A dressing room visit from Jose Mourinho was the “icing on the cake” for Bradford goalkeeper Ben Williams after the League One side’s shock 4-2 comeback win over Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Bradford were 2-0 down in their fourth-round tie at Stamford Bridge after goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires for the Premier League leaders. However, a strike before half-time from Jon Stead followed by goals from Filipe Morais and Andy Halliday put the Bantams ahead before Mark Yeates confirmed their progress in injury time.
Mourinho said he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” after the defeat, but the Portuguese was keen to congratulate the Bradford players after the match and Williams told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme: “It was fantastic.
“The scenes, the look on everyone’s faces was amazing, something which will live long in the memory. The fans were amazing and after that Mourinho came into the dressing room and shook everyone’s hand and congratulated us — that was a surreal moment as well.
“In he walked and the celebrations stopped. This figure waltzed into the dressing room. He was very classy, very humble, very respectful — it was the icing on the cake.”
Bradford looked to be heading out of the competition after conceding two first-half goals, but Williams believes the combination of sticking to their game plan and perhaps some complacency from Chelsea contributed to their comeback.
“Once you go 2-0 down it was a case of seeing it out and sticking to the game plan and the goal before half-time gave us a real lift,” he said. “We had a way of playing and the boys executed that fantastically well.
“At 2-0 at home everything is in Chelsea’s favour. Maybe there was an element of taking their foot off the gas.
“It’s the FA Cup — it’s a fantastic leveller and you have always got a chance if you remain in the game. Take nothing away from Bradford, the goals we scored were fantastic.”
Bradford boss Phil Parkinson, meanwhile, said Mourinho had tried to shake his hand before the final whistle after Chelsea fell 4-2 behind.
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert had accused Mourinho of being “disrespectful” for attempting to say his farewells before the match at Stamford Bridge had finished earlier this season, but the Chelsea boss insisted he had no intention of stopping the practice.
Parkinson said at his postmatch news conference: “He came over to shake hands but at that point there was still three-and-a-half minutes left and I wasn’t getting drawn into that.
“You know that if Chelsea got one [goal] back even at that late stage, and with their world-class players on the pitch, they could easily have got a second so we wanted to concentrate on what we had to do and see the game through.”
Parkinson bore the Chelsea boss no ill will, though, saying: “He came in the dressing room afterwards and shook everyone’s hands, crediting the lads for their performances, which I thought was a real touch of class.”