Mourinho Still Not Sure Why Referee Foy Ignored Him

Jose Mourinho says he has been left in the dark concerning his sending off during Chelsea’s loss at Aston Villa on Saturday.

“I don’t know why I was sent off. I asked, but the referee refused to speak to me,” Mourinho said.

The ‘Blues’s’ title bid was dealt another blow at Villa Park in a game they ended with just nine men, after Willian and Ramires got their marching orders for a second bookable offence- the latter resulting in the Portuguese boss being sent to the stand.

Mourinho was asked off the pitch for getting involved in the melee fueled by Ramires’ two-footed lunge on Karim EL Ahmadi’d shin. He tried to enter the field to talk to referee Chris Foy after Ramires was sent off.

“One player made an aggressive move towards one of my players. Gabriel Agbonlahor was on the bench, he jumped onto the pitch, he was aggressive, everyone jumps onto then pitch, me and my assistants, lots of people there.

“Maybe Mr Foy thought I was aggressive, I don’t know. There are no statues in a football match, so everyone should have been sent off,” he added.

Midfielder Nemanja Matic had his first goal for Chelsea disallowed at the end of the first-half for handball.

The Serbian was unmarked at the far post when a John Terry flick on from a Willian corner bobbled off his thigh and onto his arm before he shot past Brad Guzan.

Chelsea were reduced to ten men when referee Foy issued a second booking for Willian for tripping Fabian Delph as he drove towards goal.

Villa capitalised on their numerical advantage when Delph back-heeled a Marc Albrighton low cut-back into the net.

The visitors’ frustration boiled over in the closing stages of the game as Ramires jumped into an ugly challenge with El Ahmadi only to get a swift red card response from Foy.

Mourinho was then sent to the stands for getting involved in the recriminations after Ramires’ poor tackle.

“We must be very, very unlucky to have another refereeing performance like this one.

“This was not about one mistake a referee can make, a penalty or not giving a penalty, but this is about a 94 minute performance,” Mourinho concluded.

The loss has now reduced Chelsea’s lead over Manchester City to six points with the latter, who secured a 2-0 win at Hall earlier in the day, having three games in hand.