Jose's verdict on Newcastle

Jose Mourinho only had words of praise for the performance after a late, late penalty denied us a deserved victory against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.

A final shot count of 23-6 in our favour only tells half the story. We could have been out of sight by half-time only for visiting goalkeeper Karl Darlow to produce save after save - including a double to deny Gio Lo Celso and Harry Kane - and when he was beaten, the woodwork twice came to Newcastle’s rescue as Heung-Min Son hit the post and crossbar from distance.

Steve Bruce changed it up after the break but we still had the chances - Darlow saved from Kane, Lo Celso and Erik Lamela. However, as the clock ticked into the third of five minutes of added time, Jonjo Shelvey’s free-kick was met by Andy Carroll, whose header struck Eric Dier on the arm. Dier had his back to Carroll, but the VAR decision went against us and Callum Wilson drilled home from the penalty spot for 1-1.

It was put to Jose that the result must have been heartbreaking. “The performance was very good, so the performance was not heartbreaking, the performance was really good.

“That was a consequence of the evolution of the team, very solid defensively, not giving chances to the opponent, always in control, huge ball possession, lots of chances, Man of the Match has to be their goalkeeper... very, very happy with my team’s performance.

“The first half performance was really, really good, even the second half was solid. The team was always in control. We managed to keep them away from our box, but on one occasion we couldn’t, and we lost two points.

“It was an amazing performance, very good. We deserved the points. That’s football.”