During Saturday afternoon’s matchup against Burnley, Chelsea FC midfielder Nemanja Matic was sent off for violent conduct in retaliation toward Ashley Barnes. Matic was indeed the victim of a potential “career-threatening injury,” but perhaps supporters are overlooking his retaliation. The Chelsea midfielder had every right to be furious over the dirty play from Barnes during the match, but his reaction did nothing but aid in the dropping of 2 points as well as being unavailable for the next two matches due to suspension.
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Today, his suspension was reduced from 3 to 2 games by the FA. This means he will miss Sunday’s League Cup Final match against Tottenham. This will be a perfect opportunity to win the first of hopefully multiple trophies this season. The second match is March 4th against 8th place West Ham at the Boleyn Ground.
As disappointing as it was to see referee Martin Atkinson lose control of the match from the start and have the worst game of his career, it’s even more upsetting to lose Matic for 2 upcoming matches. When he was shown a red card for his violent reaction, although justified due to the tackle, the Chelsea side instantly lost its edge so commonly seen with Nemanja on the pitch.
A veteran player such as himself should know better than to react the way he did. Without Matic on Sunday against Spurs, it will be much more difficult to bring another trophy back to West London. Yes, Barnes should have seen red for the tackle and Diego Costa should have had a penalty during the game as well. That being said, Matic cost Chelsea 2 points and allowed Manchester City to climb 2 points closer in the table.
As much as Mourinho has blasted the FA and officials for failing to award cards and for giving cards to Chelsea players in error, our players must show the utmost class and professionalism on the pitch. If Matic does not react violently, perhaps he stays on the pitch for the remainder of the game, the Blues aren’t reduced to 10 men, and Burnley never equalize. Again, Atkinson’s awful performance on Saturday merits no excuses. It was poor from start to finish.
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The FA again is the party at fault. They got half of the decision right. Even though Matic was in the wrong for reacting over Barnes’ tackle, the Burnley player should also be suspended retroactively, even if not carded during the match. If Diego Cost can be suspended for 3 games for an incident the referee never showed a card or a foul for during regulation, then why wouldn’t Barnes?
It is obvious the FA understands Matic’s frustration to the challenge by reducing his ban by 1 game. If they understand that frustration they are acknowledging the horrible tackle from Ashley Barnes. It is time the FA stops using Chelsea as the example and punishes accordingly across the league.
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