The pressure on the Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez has increased once more after the 3-2 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United during the weekend. Chelsea appeared to have taken all three points after a remarkable comeback in the second half, but a collapse late in the match meant that Tottenham have closed the gap on to the European champions in the table. Benitez said after the match that he was extremely disappointed with some of the refereeing decisions. He pointed out to the lack of a penalty and a red card when Fabricio Coloccini challenged Demba Ba in the penalty box.
In trying to go for the ball, the Argentine defender had a high boot that eventually resulted in the eventually resulted in the striker suffered in a broken nose. The 27-year-old was then substituted for Fernando Torres, who was ineffective in the second half. The defeat now means that Chelsea have a slender one-point advantage over Tottenham in the table. The Argentine Jonas Gutierrez opened the scoring for Newcastle in an amazing first half, as they overpowered the European champions. However, two goals from Frank Lampard and Juan Mata meant that Chelsea were able to come back in the second half. The January signing Sissoko then scored two goals to help Newcastle to an amazing victory.
“I think there were too many mistakes. I could see a red card that was not shown for Coloccini. So we had a chance, he [Demba Ba] had the ball, he received a kick and got a broken nose, it was bleeding. It was so simple, if it was in the middle of park you would go back and give a free-kick. It is very simple and very clear – penalty and red card because it was a chance. It’s a strange rule and the penalty could have changed everything,” said Benitez.