AVB blasts referee after United stage comeback
CHELSEA (3) vs MANCHESTER UNITED (3)
CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-Boas admitted he was baffled by the performance of referee Howard Webb after two contentious penalty decisions helped Manchester United retrieve a three-goal deficit and keep their Premier League title hopes alive.
The Blues led 3-0 just six minutes into the second half courtesy of a Jonny Evans own goal, an explosive Juan Mata volley and David Luiz’s deflected header. But two successful penalty conversions from Wayne Rooney and a typical poacher’s effort from Javier Hernandez saw United stage a miraculous recovery.
Villas-Boas, however, claimed Webb was the catalyst for the visitors’ comeback and took particular issue with the award of the second spot kick which followed a foul by Branislav Ivanovic on Danny Welbeck.
“I don’t know if Howard was compensating for anything from the first half,” said Villas-Boas after Webb failed to spot Gary Cahill’s trip on Welbeck in the opening period, which could have resulted in a red card for the England defender on his debut. “But the second penalty is a wrong decision. It is very, very dubious.
“We expect top referees in top games and at the moment it hasn’t been happening for us. There were some strange decisions today.”