Dirty TackleChelsea gifted late penalty to retain Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten home record at Stamford Bridge
With Chelsea down 2-1 deep into injury time, Jose Mourinho's unbeaten record through 65 Premier League home matches seemed just about finished. But then, after taking a moment to think about it, referee Andre Marriner awarded Chelsea a penalty in the fourth minute of added time, setting up Eden Hazard to equalize from the penalty spot and salvage a 2-2 draw for the home side.
For people who don't like Chelsea, the penalty decision was a clear sign of collusion as Ramires took a dive and strangled a kitten on his way down. For people who do like Chelsea, it was a lucky call as there was contact between Ramires and West Brom's Steven Reid, but no foul. Either way, the situation was cloudy enough to lend itself to interpretation heavily based on pre-existing opinions.
To illustrate this, when asked about that moment after the match, Jose Mourinho said, "Yes, I think it was a penalty. I watched it from different angles. I'm sure it was a penalty." Injured West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, meanwhile, tweeted: "Load of s***."
Two widely divergent interpretations. To say the least.
- - - - - - -
is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter!
