Jose Mourinho believes Manchester City have been the beneficiaries of a series of kind decisions by officials over the course of the season.
With City leading 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, Spurs captain Michael Dawson had a goal controversially ruled out for offside before Danny Rose received a red card and conceded a penalty despite winning the ball in a tackle with Edin Dzeko.
They have had many crucial decisions in their favour. They are lucky
Jose Mourinho
The Citizens went on to secure three points as Yaya Toure’s spot-kick and goals from Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Vincent Kompany put the gloss on a 5-1 win at White Hart Lane, hoisting Manuel Pellegrini’s side into top spot ahead of Arsenal.
And Mourinho, whose Blues side travel to The Etihad on Monday, pointed to contentious decisions in City’s victories over Liverpool and Newcastle United to further strengthen his argument that the leaders have benefited from remarkable good fortune this term.
“I think they have everything, and on top of that – and I want to make it very clear that it’s a coincidence – the reality is that they have had many crucial decisions in their favour. They are lucky,” Mourinho told his pre-match media conference.
“Against Liverpool, the [Raheem] Sterling goal and the penalty on [Luis] Suarez; against Newcastle the goal that is a clear goal; against Tottenham, Dawson’s offside goal, the red card and penalty.
“I repeat. It’s pure coincidence. I think the referees have tried to do their best and sometimes they make mistakes.
“Normally the mistakes are split among the teams but in that case, they have everything in their favour. Their players are very good and they’re manager is doing very good.”