Goodison Park, Liverpool - Jose Mourinho insists he has "nothing to hide" regarding his tax affairs as he left Goodison Park seething about two more squandered points.
The Manchester United manager woke up to a story in the Sunday Times that reported he could be the subject of a criminal investigation into claims his advisers misled the British tax authorities.
"I have lodged the documents in Italy, Spain and England. I have nothing to hide. They prove that I have done nothing wrong," he said
The Portuguese was in a dark mood after he saw his side once again come up short with a 1-1 draw at Everton.
United are now 13 points off Premier League leaders Chelsea, closer to bottom club Swansea than to the top
.
They looked on course for a 1-0 win thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first-half lob, but the match changed when substitute Marouane Fellaini upended Everton’s star performer Idrissa Gana Gueye in the box and Leighton Baines converted a nerveless 89th minute spot-kick.
Mourinho claimed he hadn’t seen either the penalty or a wild two-footed challenge from Marcus Rojo on Gueye that could have earned a red card.
He was asked why he introduced Fellaini and that set the tone for a tetchy exchange. After a 20- second pause, the Portuguese snapped: "What do you mean by that? I thought you would know more about football than you do.
"It is obvious. Everton is not a passing team. They play direct. Everything is direct."
"Goalkeeper - direct. Ashley Williams - direct. Funes Mori - direct. Everything is direct. And when a team is losing and plays direct, when you have a player on the bench with two metres (in height) you play him in front of the defensive line to help your team win the match.’
On United’s display, Mourinho said: "Another game with a very good performance in a very difficult place to play, a very emotional stadium against a team with very good players. It was a very good, solid performance. Again. We are playing very well at home, super-dominant.
"We are playing very well away with some amazing performances, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo as an example, but not getting the results we deserve. When you play bad, you get bad results. When you play well, there is nothing more you can do.
"This is what we are doing. Opponents are leaving the stadium super-happy to get points that they don’t deserve. We go back to work. We have a match on Thursday.
"When my team are playing pragmatic football and winning matches and winning titles, you say it is not right and nice. When my teams play very, very well there is a huge change. Now you say, 'What matters is to get results'."
Everton manager Ronald Koeman felt Rojo could have been shown a red card for his 17th-minute challenge on Gueye, but was happy that his team put up a fight and secured a point that did not look likely for much of the second half.
"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 fighting spirit," said Koeman, whose side dropped to eighth place having won only one game - at home against West Ham - in nine Premier League matches.
‘It starts by making life difficult for your opponent when they have the ball. We can play better but that was the big difference from last week.’