Jose Mourinho kept his fury in check last night, fearing he could be punished for speaking his mind after Premier League leaders Chelsea saw two points snatched away in a thrilling finish at Manchester United.
The leaders had defender Branislav Ivanovic sent off for a second bookable offence in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
And from the resulting Angel Di Maria free kick, Robin van Persie levelled Didier Drogba’s opener.
Aside from dismissing Ivanovic, referee Phil Dowd booked five other Blues stars and three from United.
And an angry Mourinho felt decisions went against Chelsea, including a strong claim for a penalty when Ivanovic looked to be fouled by Chris Smalling.
“The red card, I was seeing it coming,” he said. “If I have to speak about the second yellow I have to speak about lots of things: the penalty that Ivanovic should have been given, the accumulation of yellow cards, the throw-ins.
“I know I speak always with my heart and get in trouble. I have no comments on the referee. You know I cannot speak, some can and some don’t and one of the ones who cannot speak is me because you know what happens to me when I do.”
Mourinho’s side now have a fourpoint lead over Southampton, but he added: “We are not happy with a point and that shows how good we are. We are four points in front so I can say next weekend it doesn’t matter what the results will be, we will be on top of the league.
“I prefer to be in front rather than behind obviously because we have a little space for our mistakes, or the referee’s mistakes.”
United boss Louis van Gaal felt his own side did enough to win the game and praised their battling qualities. But he was unhappy with Chelsea’s goal as full-back Rafael was out-matched in marking Drogba at a corner.
He added: “The corner kick was a lack of communication and that is why they scored. You can be tall and not defend. Rafael is one of the best defenders but lacks a lot of height.
“After that we lost our heads for 15 minutes and they could have scored a second goal.
“But we still could have won, we missed an opportunity. That is a pity but I am very pleased that we are fighting until the end as a team.”
