• Premier League

Mourinho hits out at Chelsea fans with 'empty stadium' jibe

Jose Mourinho was unhappy with the performance - and lack of atmosphere at Stamford Bridge © Getty Images

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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho criticised the club's home support following the 2-1 victory against QPR on Saturday, suggesting it was like watching his side play "in an empty stadium."

Mourinho's side clinched victory in the west London derby through a disputed Eden Hazard penalty, after Charlie Austin's flicked finish cancelled out Oscar's sublime opener.

However, Mourinho was far from happy with the Stamford Bridge support and spoke of his frustration over the lack of atmosphere.

"Everyone knows how much I feel connected to this club and the fans," Mourinho told talkSPORT. "At this moment it's difficult for us to play at home though, because playing here is like playing in an empty stadium.

"The team then starts playing like it's a quiet, soft game at home. It's difficult to get that strong start where the players, team and fans at Stamford Bridge [are all together].

"I was today looking around and it was empty, but not in terms of people because it was obviously full. That's what frustrating."

Chelsea's victory came courtesy of a controversial penalty, which was awarded when Hazard was grounded under a challenge from Eduardo Vargas.

The victory consolidated Chelsea's lead over Southampton at the top of the Premier League and moved them nine points clear of champions Manchester City, but Mourinho was unhappy with the performance.

He told Sky Sports: "It was a completely deserved victory, but not a good performance. We had good periods, and some moments of good reaction to negative periods, but I didn't think we played a complete game like normal.

"So why do we deserve it? We deserve it because we had lots of chances and Eden was a player who gave a fantastic performance - but in reality they were a team who had great defensive organisation.

"They put us in a very difficult situation to face, but we have to play better. They changed their system and defended well. We couldn't score the third goal to win the game and kept them in it too long."

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