Torres red irks Mourinho as Chelsea draw with Tottenham

Manager criticises striker’s dismissal in a ‘should have won’ EPL game.

LONDON:

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho criticised the dismissal of striker Fernando Torres in yesterday’s 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur and argued that his side deserved more from the game.

A 65th-minute header by captain John Terry earned Chelsea a draw in the English Premier League tussle at White Hart Lane, after Gylfi Sigurdsson had given the home side a first-half lead.

However, Torres was shown a second yellow card for leading with his arm in an aerial challenge on Jan Vertonghen in the closing stages and Spurs came close to snatching victory before the final whistle sounded.

Chelsea had dominated the second-half prior to the Spaniard’s dismissal, and although Mourinho felt Mike Dean’s decision to brandish a red card robbed his side of momentum at a crucial juncture, he reserved his strongest criticism for Vertonghen.

Asked if he felt a draw was a fair result, he told Sky Sports, “I don’t think it was, because I think they were better than us in the first-half – they were better, but they didn’t create so many chances – but in the second-half, there was only one team.

“The team was very, very strong, until the moment the referee made a mistake; a big mistake, but a mistake that has a big influence in the result.

“I think in these situations the ref is not guilty. I think the player is guilty, because if nobody touches me and in this moment I fall, it’s not your fault, it’s my fault because I fall.”

He added, “When he [Vertonghen] pretends that Fernando had a big contact on him, the referee is at a distance and he makes the second yellow card. And at that moment, we were much better. They were in big trouble.

“At the end you finish with a bad taste, because we should have won.”

The game marked the first managerial contest between Mourinho and Tottenham coach Andre Villas-Boas, who worked under the Chelsea manager as an opposition scout during previous stints at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.



Strike duo excite Liverpool boss Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is expecting Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez to form a thrilling forward partnership.

Suarez ended his 10-game suspension by returning in midweek as Liverpool were knocked out of the League Cup by Manchester United with neither the Uruguayan nor the 24-year-old Sturridge on the scoresheet in a 1-0 defeat.

Rodgers is ready to pair them up again for the Premier League visit to bottom-of-the-table Sunderland today.

“I think Luis’s return will only improve Daniel,” said Rodgers. “Good players want to play with other good players. They can be a real threat.

“It’s not something that Daniel will be worried about. Their focus is on the team doing well and it’s my job to manage the dynamics of the team. I’ve got no worries about it.” In the second fixture of the day, Stoke will be up against Norwich. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2013.

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