Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho believes that over sights by referee Martin Atkinson during the 1-1 draw at home to Burnley supports his view that there is a “clear campaign” being waged against his team.
The draw at Stamford Bridge allowed Manchester City to close the gap at the top to four-points after thumping five-goals past Newcastle United.
Chelsea took the lead thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s sixth goal of the season, but the Clarets managed to draw level thanks to a late header from Ben Mee.
The games main talking point however was the straight red card for Nemanja Matic after the Serb pushed Ashley Barnes to the ground following a particularly nasty tackle from the attacker, and while the Chelsea player had to leave the pitch the Burnley man was unpunished.
This was just one of the points Mourinho brought up in his carefully worded assessment of Martin Atkinson’s performance.
“Have I seen a run of decisions like this? I don’t remember,” Mourinho said.
“I’m happy that I’m not stupid and I understood everything a couple of months ago. I’m not in the mood to laugh.
“If this story that started a couple of months ago finished today with 12 matches to play with an advantage of five points, I’d tell you we will be champions. But I don’t know if the story ends here, or if there is more waiting for us.”
“This game had four crucial moments – minutes 30, 33, 43 and 69. This is the story of this game. I can’t comment because it’s difficult for me to not say the truth,” Mourinho added.
“I’m making it easy for you because if you look at these moments you know exactly what I think about the game.
“What happened to Matic was in minute 69 and minute 69 had a big relationship with minute 30 because normally that player, if I can call him a player, should have been in the shower in minute 31.
“There wouldn’t have been a minute 69 if the person in charge had dealt with minute 30 properly.”
When he was asked about the tackle from Barnes the Portuguese manager relied: “I’ll leave it with you. I’d prefer not to call it because if I call it I’m going to use some words…
“A couple of weeks ago when I was here in the press conference after the Liverpool game in the Capital One Cup, the television subtitles had gone on and on about Diego’s crimes. Well compare Diego’s crimes with what happened against Burnley.”
You can see the tackle and the reaction from the Chelsea player in the video below.
