FALLOUT FROM LAST NIGHT

Last updated : 13 January 2005 By editor

Mourinho, “The referee controlled the game in one way during the first half but in the second they had dozens of free-kicks. It was fault after fault, dive after dive. But I know the referee did not walk to the dressing rooms alone at half-time. He should only have had his two assistants and the fourth official with him, but there was also someone else.

"What I saw and heard and felt at half-time made it easier for me to understand a few things. Maybe when I turn 60 and have been managing in the same league for 20 years and have the respect of everybody I will have the power to speak to people and make them tremble a little bit.

"If someone from the FA asks me what happened, I will tell them. The ball was in the crowd for quite a long time and yet we still only had two minutes of injury time."

Sir Alex Ferguson felt that we should have been given a penalty for the challenge on Louis Saha, "It certainly looked like a penalty, but you are at Chelsea and it is going to be difficult to get a penalty here with the season they are having. The interesting thing was that Chelsea went up the other end not long after and got a free-kick for exactly the same thing, which was a bit disappointing."

Mourinho however was quick to dismiss this, mentioning the incident at Tottenham last week and saying, “They should not be allowed to speak about referees for another year after that. It was one of the most ridiculous decisions I've ever seen."


Fergie also felt hard done to by the ref, “At the end of the day we’ve coped well. There were one of two moments where we had to defend well. I thought the referee gave Chelsea an awful lot in the first half. I’m glad we didn’t lose a goal.”

Sir Alex is looking forward to the return leg, "There will be a great atmosphere, 67,000 fans. It is two terrific teams and it could go either way. It really depends what team I play."


Mourinho doesn’t seem daunted about coming to Old Trafford for the return leg,
"It’s 0-0, so if we win we go through and if we get a draw we go to extra time. We have exactly the same chance we had before this game. We are confident of getting a result but we know what Manchester United is, a footballing power. It'll be difficult for us, but also for them."

The last word goes to Fergie, “At the end of the day we've coped well with Chelsea and they are a threat in the air, there's no question about that. When they brought that big Russian guy on (Jarosik), crikey, I don't know what size he is, but he was an even bigger threat. We coped well with them, their one opportunity was knocked off the line by Phil Neville.
 

“So there was one or two moments when we had to defend well. In the main I think for me, we knew we were never going to lose the game when Paul Scholes came on the pitch. He showed what a fantastic player he is, there's not a player in the land as good as him. He was absolutely magnificent tonight. Control, composure, vision, awareness, everything. He settled our whole team down.


“They've not been losing goals, Chelsea. From our point of view, if Louis Saha had had a couple of games behind him we might have just got the one we needed. He had two or three good opportunities from headers. I was pleased that we didn't lose a goal, that's six in a row now that we haven't lost a goal and that spreads confidence in the team.”