A look at how Chelsea lost the premiership

1 Middlesbrough 2 Chelsea 1 August 23rd 2006

Andriy Shevchenko (below) scored a 16th-minute opener but Emanuel Pogatetz and Mark Viduka turned things round in the last 10 minutes, producing Middlesbrough's second successive win over the defending Premiership champions.

"When I do not win but do not deserve to win, I am not disappointed," Mourinho said. Shevchenko would not score again for nine Chelsea games.

2 Transfer deadline day August 31st

Robert Huth left Chelsea for Middlesbrough in a £6 million deal and William Gallas headed for Arsenal. Mourinho opposed both transfers; Khalid Boulahrouz's £7million arrival from Hamburg hardly mitigated matters. "We sold William Gallas and Robert Huth," Mourinho would say later. "We don't have enough cover so we are having problems."

3 Reading 0 Chelsea 1 October 14th

Less than five minutes after kick-off, Petr Cech gathered a seemingly routine ball in his area but was caught by Stephen Hunt's knee as the Reading midfielder slid in to challenge. The collision fractured Cech's skull. The substitute, Carlo Cudicini, was concussed in a clash with Ibrahima Sonko. Mourinho said: "Cech is lucky to be alive." Mikel John Obi's dismissal was a footnote.

4 Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1 November 5th

A rare goal from Claude Makelele - from 25 yards - looked like extending Chelsea's 17-year, 32-match unbeaten league run over Tottenham. But Michael Dawson levelled before Aaron Lennon's sprightly winner on 52 minutes. Twenty minutes later John Terry's red-card offence prompted a furious reaction from Spurs players, with Terry later accusing the referee Graham Poll of changing his mind over the dismissal.

5 Manchester Utd 1 Chelsea 1 November 26th

It seemed like two points dropped for the Premiership leaders after Ricardo Carvalho cancelled out Louis Saha's opener. "If I was in their position I'd be very frustrated," said Mourinho.

6 Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1 December 10th

Twice Chelsea hit the woodwork after Michael Essien equalised Mathieu Flamini's 79th-minute goal but the draw put the champions eight points adrift of Manchester United.

"Alex Ferguson must be happy now, because you can say we dropped two points," Mourinho said. "But if he thinks it's over he's in trouble, because it's not over."

7 Chelsea 2 Reading 2 St Stephen's Day

With the injured Terry and Cech still absent, a rearguard of Hilario, Geremi, Paulo Ferreira, Carvalho and Wayne Bridge allowed Reading twice to cancel out Didier Drogba's goals.

8 Chelsea 2 Fulham 2 December 30th

Terry remained out and more defensive errors permitted Carlos Bocanegra to equalise six minutes from time. Asked how much he needed to spend in the transfer window, Mourinho said: "Nothing. I need the best goalkeeper in the world back, I need the best central defender in the world back."

9 Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0 January 20th

"Liverpool knew our defence was going to be fragile so they used two big guys up front and we couldn't cope with it," said Mourinho, below. "Rafa is not stupid and I'm not a magician."

10 Chelsea 2 Bolton 2 April 22nd

With Lampard, Drogba and Makelele rested before the Champions League semi-final second leg, Chelsea fatally slipped up just as United were dramatically overturning a two-goal deficit to win at Everton.

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