Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that midfielder Oscar deserved to be booked for diving in yesterday’s 3-0 victory over Southampton.
The Brazilian, who was put through into the box, went over very theatrically after the Saints goalkeeper came rushing out, and match official Martin Atkinson refused to give a penalty and instead booked The Blues man for simulation.
After the game Mourinho was questioned about the incident, and he was in full support of the referee and admitted that the midfielder took a dive.
“It was deserved – a good yellow card from [referee] Martin Atkinson. Oscar is a clean player who was waiting for the goalkeeper to smash him,” he said.
“The goalkeeper was coming then stopped so in the end Oscar is trying to touch the goalkeeper instead of the goalkeeper smashing him.
“It was a fair yellow card but I also accept Oscar’s explanation to me. When he saw the goalkeeper coming he is thinking ‘penalty and red card’ but the goalkeeper has a lot of experience and stopped.
“This is one thing. Another thing is what you see by other players from other clubs. When a top referee in this country makes a good decision on these yellow cards hopefully others will follow and kill this situation.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
