Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Robbie Savage have revealed that referee Martin Atkinson was poor in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Burnley.
The blues should’ve won the game against Burnley in the first half as they could have had as many as two penalties but were denied so by the referee. Ashley Barnes, who made a studs up challenge on Nemanja Matic, should have been sent off, but Atkinson decided to give Matic the marching orders after the Serbian over reacted to the challenge.
MOTD Pundit Alan Shearer said that he agreed with Mourinho reaction in the post match press conference that Chelsea were undone as they failed to get the right decisions from the referee in the key points of the game, “I have to agree with him. I think Martin Atkinson had a terrible game.
“Ashley Barnes goes up for the header with Ivanovic, he leads with his foot and hea s very fortunate. You can see he kicks out with his studs into the back of the hamstring and that should be a yellow card.”
Shearer also gave his views on the penalty incidents, “Thata s blatant handball by Michael Kightly. The refereea s got a brilliant view, hea s about 10 yards away. Kightly turns his back and sticks his arm out, it has to be a penalty.”
Robbie Savage too opined that it was a clear penalty, “Hea s made himself bigger, his arm is in an unnatural position in order to save a shot which is going on target. Ita s a penalty.”
After that incident, Chelsea had another penalty appeal turned down as Jason Shackell clearly pushed Diego Costa in the penalty area.
The duo commented that it was a shove and should have been a penalty, “Shackell loses the ball and tries to make up for his error but he catches everything. He shoves him, gets his legs caught up in his and you can see by Costaa s reaction what he thinks of it. It should be a penalty,” Shearer said.
“The ref was in a great position once again. Chelsea have been hard done by today,” Savage stated.
Ashley Barnes’ horrific challenge went unpunished by the referee who was in a decent position to spot the challenge, but he sent off Matic instead. Although Matic’s reaction was a bit wild, Shearer and Savage felt that Barnes should have been sent off as it was definitely a career ending tackle.
“Ita s a horrific tackle, it really is,a said Shearer. “Ita s dangerous, ita s naughty and ita s terrible. I understand Matica s reaction, ita s not right but I understand it because he could have had his leg broken. Ita s a terrible tackle and for that, Matic is going to miss the cup final next week, which is a disaster for him and Chelsea. It really is a terrible and naughty tackle, he could easily have broken Matica s leg. He doesna t even get a yellow card in the game at all,” he added.
“He should have been booked for the first challenge and that should have been a straight red for Ashley Barnes. Alana s right, Matic is lucky hea s not out for six or seven months. Mourinhoa s right, Chelsea were hard done by today,” Savage said.