Dermot Gallagher has insisted that referee Mark Clattenburg was right not to send off Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva against Chelsea.
Watch more brilliant snippets like this with fanatix’s FREE sports video news app
After being booked earlier in the game, the Brazilian international brought down Ramires in the second half only to escape further punishment.
That sparked fury on the Chelsea bench as Jose Mourinho was seen on the television footage laughing in frustration and sarcastically clapping the officials.
However, based on Gallagher’s assessment of the situation, he believes that Clattenburg was right not to send the Liverpool man off and defended him from criticism relating to that incident in particular.
Jurgen Klopp’s side went on to win the game 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, and in turn it piled further pressure on Mourinho to turn his side’s season around.
The reigning Premier League champions continue to languish in the bottom half of the Premier League table having collected just 11 points from their 11 games so far.
Chelsea have already lost six games this season and have fallen 10 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United as they may well have to reconsider their objectives this year.
Whether or not Mourinho can inspire a remarkable turnaround which sees them capable of challenging for another title remains to be seen, but they will certainly hope that they have enough time to at least get back into contention for the Champions League qualification spots.
As for the Portuguese tactician himself, he refused to discuss the game in his post-match interview, as reported by the BBC, and he faces a difficult time in terms of waiting to see if the club sticks by him and allows him time to put their disappointing start to the campaign behind them.
COMMENTS