Mourinho plays down Abramovich exit

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Goals from debutant Zat Knight and Agbonlahor earned Villa a 2-0 win which denied Chelsea the chance to return to top spot.

"I think the owner leaves the stadium when he wants to leave," said Mourinho. "I went to see England-Germany the other day and I left early because I wanted to beat the traffic."

Mourinho believes the Barclays Premier League title race will be more open this season, adding: "There has been a big input by teams outside of the top four, so it will become more normal for the big teams to lose matches and points.

"The other teams have spent lots of money and brought players in to bolster their teams. Villa are one example but you can find a lot of other examples.

"It will be more difficult to play against these teams because they are better. The league is open but it is the first weekend of September and we are only five matches into the season."