Mourinho: Referees Must Protect Hazard

Jose Mourinho launched his second scathing attack at Premier League referees in less than a week following Chelsea’s 5-3 loss against Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day. Inparticular, the Portuguese called on Anthony Taylor and Phil Dowd, who refereed Chelsea’s last two Premier League games, to do a better job of protecting diminutive star EdenHazard, saying the Belgian could be forced to leave the league if they don’t start protecting him better.

“People [are] in love with football in this country; people must be in lovewith Eden Hazard,” Mourinho said. “The way, match after match, he’s being punished by opponents and he’s not being protected by referees, maybe one day we won’t have Eden Hazard. It’s one, two,three, four, five, 10 aggressive fouls against him. They kick and kick and kick, and the kid resists. He’s a very honest guy in the way he plays, but that’s another problem.”

The former RealMadrid and Inter Milan coach went on to claim that once again, referees weremaking crucial decisions against Chelsea, and that that, more than the five goals his team conceded at White Hart Lane on Thursday, was the reason for the defeat. “Conceding five goals can happen,”Mourinho said. “I’m not saying five times a season but you have that game, an unlucky situation, when people are more tired it can happen this kind of situation.” He added: “What I am shocked[about] is that it’s difficult to understand why but the reality is that in three days [of matches] we had two incredible decisions that punished us in a very hard way.

For Chelsea, the loss,coupled with Manchester City’s 3-2 win at home to Sunderland, meant that Mourinho’s men are now tied on points at the top of the Premier League with a completely identical record to City,which has taken 29 points out of a possible 33 in its last 11 games.