Chelsea enjoyed one of the most one-sided games of their season at Swansea, before getting knocked down by a very costly mistake from the match referee Andre Marriner yesterday.
Swansea midfielder put the hosts 2-1 up after controversially stealing the ball from Chelsea’s Gary Cahill as the last man in the defence, and then finishing a shot past Thibaut Courtois.
However, what the match officials missed was a foul in the build up, as Fer made no contact with the ball when he took down the England center-back from behind, before slotting home.
It was a big foul and there’s no question should it been a free-kick to Chelsea or not, and the mistake Marriner made, proved to cost Chelsea the win.
Shouldn’t Diego Costa have rescued Chelsea a point from the match, the outrage could have been even bigger.
Nevertheless, this is how the media reacted…
Chris Sutton, Match of the Day 2
I thought he [Cahill] spoke really brilliantly, basically it was a foul… it was an assault.
How Andre Marriner didn’t see that, I don’t know.
It was ridiculous and it cost Chelsea, the match was so one sided.
That was such a big moment and all you are asking for is for the referee to make the right decision.
Marriner has been labelled as one of the most lenient referees in the league, as he also missed Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero’s elbow challenge on West Ham defender Winston Reid two weeks ago, which is why the striker is currently suffering from a three-match ban that FA set after the fixture.
Graham Poll, Daily Mail
Andre Marriner missed a very obvious foul by Fer as he dispossessed Gary Cahill and went on to score and give Swansea the lead.
Marriner ignored Chelsea’s protests. Those who questioned whether he really did not see Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero elbow on Winston Reid must now see that his laidback manner means he really can miss the most obvious of fouls.
Niall Quinn, Sky Sports
There was no contact on the ball from Fer and that means something must have gone wrong.
Cahill didn’t slip over, there was a kick with Fer’s right boot. He kicks him in the Achilles and any Swansea fans who think that was fair, need to look at the replay. You’ll realise Andre Marriner got it wrong.
I won’t be too harsh on him because at the time we didn’t see the foul in real time.
Mark Halsey, The Sun
There were big decisions for Andre Marriner to make in the second half.
Unfortunately he made a match-changing error as there was a clear foul on Chelsea defender Gary Cahill for Swansea’s second goal.
It has not been a good start altogether from our professional referees this season. The call for Swansea’s penalty was an excellent decision by Andy Garratt, the assistant, as Andre was behind play.
But Andre could have got away with awarding just the penalty instead of a caution because it was just a careless challenge, nothing else, while Swansea’s second goal was an easy decision to make because it is virtually impossible for an opponent to tackle from behind and win the ball fairly.
Andre should have used his experience and given a free-kick.
Some also said that it was all Cahill’s fault, as it took too long for him to move the ball away from his own feet after receiving it from his defensive partner John Terry.
Tom Moore, Get West London
Fer nipped in and put the ball past Courtois to give the home side the lead and put the England defender in the hotseat when David Luiz is up to speed.
Cahill felt he was fouled by Fer and, whether he was or wasn’t, he shouldn’t have been so lackadaisical with the ball in the first place.
It resulted in the Blues, from having been comfortably ahead three minutes earlier, chasing the game.
Cahill himself also complained on Marriner’s decision after the match, tweeting out his comments of the result.
He also spoke after the game to say: “You could be sat on the moon and see that it was a foul.”
That's a foul on Gary Cahill – Andre Marriner – how didn't you see that?
— Richard Keys (@richardajkeys) September 11, 2016
Extraordinary goings on at Swansea. Cahill clearly fouled and somehow in this most one-sided of games Chelsea trail.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 11, 2016
What did you think of the challenge? Did it cost Chelsea the game, and who is to be blamed for?
