Football
ESPN staff 9y

Jose Mourinho hits out at 'four moments' in Chelsea's Burnley draw

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said there were "four moments when you can write the story of the game" after the controversial 1-1 draw with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho's side had two penalty appeals turned down and saw midfielder Nemanja Matic sent off in the 69th minute after he retaliated to a bad challenge by Burnley's Ashley Barnes, who was not punished by referee Martin Atkinson.

They had taken the lead through Branislav Ivanovic in the first half but were forced to settle for a point against their relegation-threatened opponents thanks to Ben Mee's header inside the last 10 minutes.

"I'm punished when I refer to these situations. I don't want to be punished," Mourinho said after the game.

"There are four moments where you can write the story of the game -- minutes 30, 33 [when a strong Chelsea penalty appeal was turned down for handball on Michael Kightly], 43, 69. Don't ask me more questions, please.

"Minute 69 [the sending off] has a big relation with minute 30 [a tackle on Ivanovic from Barnes]. This is the story of the game. There is no minute 69 if the man in charge does his job in minute 30."

Referring to his comments last year that there was a "campaign" against Chelsea this season, he told reporters: "I am happy that I am not stupid. I understood everything a couple of months ago."

And he added that he felt a run of "non-decisions" was happening to the London club.

"Have I seen a run of decisions like this? I don't remember. 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,'' he said.

"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.''

Mourinho was also pessimistic at Chelsea's chances of overturning Matic's suspension, which is expected to be for three games, including next week's League Cup final with Tottenham.

"Have you ever seen Chelsea win an appeal?" he said. "I don't remember."

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