Jan Vertonghen actions a disgrace says Jose Mourinho
- Published
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho called Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen "a disgrace" after his clash with Fernando Torres led to the Spaniard being sent off in Saturday's 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Blues striker Torres received a second caution after an innocuous aerial duel with Belgium defender Vertonghen.
"Some foreign players when they come to England still keep their culture and it's a disgrace you do that to a person from your same job," said Mourinho.
"I think it's a disgrace."
Vertonghen joined Tottenham from Dutch side Ajax in July 2012 and has made 55 appearances since moving to England.
His side opened the scoring through a first-half strike from Gylfi Sigurdsson before John Terry headed Chelsea level after half-time.
Torres and Vertonghen were tussling with each other all match and after the Chelsea player was punished for a foul on his Spurs counterpart, the centre-back earned a booking of his own for a late tackle on Ramires.
The pair then rose for a high ball and landed heavily, with Torres subsequently shown a second yellow card by referee Mike Dean.
"A bad decision from the referee changed the last 10 minutes of the game that should have been our dominancy," Mourinho told BBC Sport. "You cannot say for sure, but we had a big tendency for a second goal and the referee changed completely the situation. We had a bad decision.
"You need to support the referees during the match, not to make their life difficult, and when nobody touches or hurts you and you pretend that the opponent touched you, had a violent conduct and hurts you, you are putting the referee in a very difficult situation.
"The referee trusts the player and gives a bad decision. I'm very sad with that because my team could win the game and didn't. But also the referee should be very sad because the referees want to do well and he did wrong because of a player. The referee should be very upset with that."
Mourinho added: "I hope the [Football Association disciplinary] committee understands he [Torres] has to play next weekend. The red card is, of course, a big mistake. I hope they do justice with him.
"I have to read perfectly well the rules to see if we can appeal with a second yellow card - I'm not so sure. If I was the boss of the committee I would give a one match suspension to the Tottenham defender and I wouldn't give to Fernando."
Tottenham boss Andre Villas Boas admitted the decision was harsh on Torres but had no complaints with the result.
"It's a pity the second half was not good as the first - Chelsea were strong in the second and in the end it was a fair result," he said.
"It was difficult for the referee to judge [the sending off]. I don't think Fernando went in as nasty as to deserve a sending off. The referee decided both players went for the ball in an aggressive way, but it was probably an unfair sending off."
- Published28 September 2013
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