The Chelsea boss takes aim after a questionable refereeing decision.
Chelsea FC managed to earn a point last night after a hard fought battle in Ukraine’s Olympic Stadium. Dynamo Kiev rode the support of a 60,000-strong crowd to frustrate the Blues as the game eventually ended 0-0. Jose Mourinho had indicated in advance that a draw would be a satisfactory result, but the club could have bagged the victory had they been awarded an early penalty.
Cesc Fabregas was clipped in the box some 17 minutes in by Serhiy Rybalka as he attempted to skip by the player. Despite an impassioned appeal for a spot kick, referee Damir Skomina waved away the cries as play continued.
After the final whistle, Mourinho fired shots at longtime nemesis Arsene Wenger when discussing the controversial incident.
"The referee was weak and naive. Big penalty."
This was evidently a reference to Wenger’s comments following Arsenal’s 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge earlier this season. Despite using the words ‘weak’ and ‘naive’ when evaluating referee Mike Dean’s performance, the Gunners boss escaped with no reprimand from the FA.
Mourinho, meanwhile, has been fined £50,000 and handed a suspended one-match ban for claiming that officials are ‘afraid’ to give Chelsea penalties, a gross injustice in his eyes.
It must be said, though, that Mourinho’s comments were simply a dig at Wenger as he would go on to clarify his view on the referee’s performance and opt to draw comparisons with rugby official Craig Joubert.
"The referee was very good. I’m serious. He made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, the referee in the Scotland game was very good. But he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying."
Scotland were moments away from booking a spot in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals before the South African referee awarded Australia a penalty. The Wallabies would convert for three points and steal the victory, but World Rugby has subsequently stated that Joubert’s decision was incorrect.
Unfortunately, given that the penalty incident came within the first 20 minutes of the contest, it is weak in itself to hold that up as the game’s deciding factor. The Blues had 90 minutes to essentially score one goal and failed to do so.
More from Champions League
- Chelsea 0-2 Real Madrid: 3 Blues positives and negatives
- Chelsea vs Real Madrid: 3 Blancos the Blues must stop
- Why you can’t count out Chelsea in the UCL against Real Madrid just yet
- Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea: 3 Positives and 3 negatives
- Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea: 3 lessons learned in UCL quarterfinal loss
Having said that, a point is not a disastrous result and the Blues certainly looked more likely to hit the back of the net. Dynamo may have had 57% of the possession, but Chelsea took more shots and hit the post early on. Dynamo goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy managed to get his fingertips on an Eden Hazard chip to deflect the ball onto the post.
Nonetheless, given the club’s current form and the cauldron that the Olympic Stadium presented, a draw leaves the Blues in a good position to progress as group winners. Their remaining games are comprised of home ties with Dynamo and FC Porto, followed by a trip to Israel to face Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
As Chelsea look to finally warm into this campaign, they should be confident in winning their way out of the group stages.
All quotes taken from BBC Sport.
Next: Chelsea FC’s Eden Hazard And Jose Mourinho Shortlisted For Top Awards