Chelsea FC saw their lead at the top of the Premier League get cut down to five points; and this time, the referee is truly to blame.
The Blues hosted Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, opening the scoring in the 14th minute through a nifty tap in from Branislav Ivanovic.
Seemingly on their way to a routine victory, things took a sudden turn when defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic was shown red for retaliating to a dangerous tackle from Ashley Barnes. Burnley would equalize in the 81st minute, and hold out for a 1-1 draw.
Chelsea FC – Credit: Brad.Ferret (Flickr Creative Commons)
Barnes — who should have probably been sent off prior to that challenge — could have easily broken Matic’s leg with his high studs-up lunge. Instead, he was allowed to see the rest of the game out, not even accruing a yellow card.
To be fair, Chelsea could have played much better to protect their lead, but the referee’s failure to do an honest day’s work definitely cost the league leaders two points.
Many teams have fallen victim to bizarre and incompetent refereeing this season, so to say that Chelsea are being unfairly targeted by the officials would not be exactly correct, but the many times that they have had crucial decisions go against them, does give a bit of stock to the “campaign.”
Chelsea were denied two clear penalties in the first half. Micheal Knightly used his arm in the box, to block an Ivanovic shot, but the appeals were waved off by referee Martin Atkinson — who had a clear view.
Moments later, Diego Costa was brought down in the box by a heavy shove from Jason Shackell — who made no play on the ball — again, no penalty.
Barnes also got away with two blatant first-half fouls, both of which were bookable offenses. The challenge on Matic was a definite red, but he got away with that as well.
Matic’s reaction to the challenge was understandable, such contact could have caused him to miss the rest of the season. Yes, he was aggressive, but to say that he went over the top would be less than truthful. His reaction was perfectly natural, and he should have seen a yellow at most.
His shove on Barnes was nowhere near as dangerous as the challenge he was responding to; and furthermore, a push deserves no more than a yellow card if it is done below the head.
Was Matic Justified?
It will be an absolute outrage if Barnes isn’t charged retrospectively by the FA, but it certainly won’t be surprising.
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The media had no choice but to be on Mourinho’s side on this one, and support came from everywhere. Matic is now supposed to miss the team’s next three matches, including the important Capital One Cup final vs Tottenham Hotspur.
Hopefully, the club will appeal and see the ban rescinded, but like Mourinho asked yesterday, have you ever seen Chelsea win an appeal?
The “campaign” bandwagon seemingly grows with every passing game, and while I’m not on board (just yet), I know that Chelsea could have been miles ahead in the title race, had the referees called it as they saw it.