Mourinho suffers first ever opening-day defeat in Everton reverse

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Mourinho suffers first ever opening-day defeat in Everton reverse image

Jose Mourinho suffered an unwanted career first when his side went down 1-0 to Everton in their opening game of the Premier League campaign.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed past Hugo Lloris 10 minutes into the second half to consign Spurs to defeat.

It is the first time in Mourinho's 20-year coaching career that the Portuguese has started the league season with a loss.

The 57-year-old had a record of 11 wins and seven draws in his sides' first league matches of the season before the Toffees got the better of Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

In the Premier League, it is just the second time a Mourinho side has dropped points in their maiden game, with Swansea the only other team to come away with a point when they drew 2-2 in 2015-16.

While opening-day defeats may be rare for the former Real Madrid, Inter and Manchester United boss, the north London outfit have had more than their fair share of them. Although it was the first time in five years that Spurs have lost on matchday one, only West Ham have begun more Premier League campaigns with a defeat, having been bested 14 times.

Mourinho was infuriated with the way his side conceded against the Toffees, complaining that the ball should have been moved back a few yards before Lucas Digne sent the free-kick into the box for Calvert-Lewin.

"The goal was a bit strange. It is not an excuse for the result or defeat or performance. With so many referees on the pitch and on the line, to take a kick a minimum of five metres distance [away from where the foul was] is incredible," Mourinho told Sky Sports.

"Before the goal I was saying to the referees, five metres makes a huge difference to the position of our back line and the angle of the cross."

When asked if his players should have spoken to the referee before the free-kick was taken, Mourinho said: "We have meetings even now on Zoom asking the players not to complain to officials. The referee is there, the guys in VAR are in contact with him, Graham Scott the fourth official is there."

Spurs, who finished sixth and 40 points adrift of champions Liverpool in the Premier League last term, have a chance to get back to winning ways on Thursday when they meet Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League qualifiers. They will then return to domestic duties with an away game against Southampton on September 20.

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