Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has laid into referee Mike Jones for his decision to send Cesc Fabregas off during his side’s shock 3-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Monday night, the Daily Mirror reports.
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The Spaniard was given his marching orders during the second half of the game after kicking the ball in the face of Albion midfielder Chris Brunt following a tussle between Diego Costa and Gareth McAuley.
But Mourinho feels that the punishment did not fit the crime, and is not incessant that Fabregas will now face a three-match ban that will see him miss the last game of the season as well as the first two of the 2015/16 campaign.
“Three game ban for this? Jesus Christ. Three game ban? Of course it’s harsh,” he said.
Saido Berahino gave the Baggies the lead in the first half, before adding another in the second, with Darren Fletcher rounding things off on the hour mark.
And though he was trying to get his head around why Fabregas was sent off, he had some clear theories as to why his side came out second best.
“Where is the danger of the situation, where is the aggression in the situation to get the red card in a friendly game?,” he added.
“I really don’t understand. I think (Darren) Fletcher was aggressive, he pushed him (Fabregas) in the chest because he is experienced and knows where he can push for a yellow card. He is much more aggressive than what Fabregas did.
“For me a top referee, a stable, big personality and in control of the game, goes there, two or three words and it’s done. It’s a bizarre red card.”
“The ideal scenario is to be champions and don’t play again, go home have holidays and don’t play again.
“When you have three more matches to play it can happen what happened to Bayern Munich, lose three in three. It can happen to us, one point in two matches.
“I don’t blame the players, to blame the players I have to blame myself because I am not different than them.
“Let’s blame the players a little bit, let’s blame myself, let’s blame the top contenders for the title because they were not good enough to fight with us until the end.
“If today we need this game to be champions, I’m not saying we’ll win but I’m saying we would compete at a higher level to win.”
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