Frank Lampard was controversially sent off for his challenge
on Xabi Alonso
Luiz Felipe Scolari accused referee Mike Riley of
derailing Chelsea’s
title challenge with the controversial sending-off of Frank
Lampard in yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield.
The Chelsea manager urged Riley to review Lampard’s 60th-minute
challenge on Liverpool
midfielder Xabi Alonso and to rescind his straight red card.
Scolari, who conceded Chelsea’s Jose Bosingwa should have been
dismissed for
slamming his studs into Yossi Benayoun’s back, admitted the loss
had all but counted Chelsea out of the title race - two late goals
from Fernando Torres securing a win that lifts Liverpool back into
second place.
Chelsea are third, five points behind leaders Manchester United,
who have a game in hand. ‘I have not spoken to the referee, but I
hope he will perhaps look at a video of the incident and say in his
report he made a mistake,’ he said.
Frank Lampard was given his marching orders on a miserable
afternoon for Chelsea at Anfield
‘It was a foul by Alonso, not Lampard, so I just cannot
understand the decision. If it is not overturned, Lampard has to
miss three games because of a mistake and that cannot be right.
‘It changed the game one million per cent, because they had so
much more of the ball after that and created more. I would have
accepted a red for Bosingwa but not Lampard.
'Whatever happens, we cannot change the result or its effect on
our title chances. We will fight to the end but it is more distant
for us now.’
Lampard and Alonso have clashed before but the Chelsea
midfielder insisted:
‘I had no intention of injuring the player. It was obvious I
touched the ball and there is no way it was a red card
offence.’
Torres scored his first League goals since October, the first a
brilliant near-post header in the 89th minute, the second an easy
finish four minutes into added time that left Liverpool two points
behind United.
He said: ‘We knew that this was a massive game. Every player
knew that. From the beginning until the very end, we worked really
hard with intensity and determination. We are very happy with the
2-0 scoreline.
‘We know that games in England, more than any other league, go
for 90 minutes and you can score in any minute and you have to keep
going until the end.
‘It is a long race. We know that Manchester United are top of
the table but we are going to fight with them until the end.
Chelsea had one player less so they needed to defend. A draw was
good for them but we needed to win. Once we had one extra player we
kept creating more chances.
‘It has brought back some belief and confidence. These were my
first two goals since coming back from injury. I have scored at
home for the first time this season and to do that against Chelsea
was fantastic.’
