Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo had absolutely no doubts about the fact that the Blues were short-changed in their 3-2 loss to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Di Matteo, usually calm and collected, without betraying too many emotions, looked absolutely livid after two key decisions went United's way, which eventually led them to the 3-2 win, when at one point it looked like Chelsea would take home all three points.
United took a 2-0 lead through a David Luiz own goal and a Robin Van Persie strike. But a brilliant ten-minute spell at the end of the first half saw the home side pull a goal back through Juan Mata, before Ramires equalized early in the second half.
Chelsea were the more confident team at 2-2 and looked like the favorites to go on and grab a winner, but two quick dismissals from referee Mark Clattenburg - the first one a straight red to Branislav Ivanovic and the second a harsh yellow to Fernando Torres for diving - turned the game around. Javier Hernandez struck the winner in the 75th minute, but replays showed the striker was offside.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said after the game, Torres deserved a second yellow for going down too easily, a statement with which Di Matteo completely disagrees with. "It's quite obvious in the eyes of everybody that the second yellow for Fernando wasn't one, it was a foul for us, he should have booked Evans and the decisive goal was offside," the Italian said. "It's a shame the game has to be decided in that manner by the officials.
"Whatever (Ferguson) says, it was a foul in our favor and Fernando put the ball between Evans' legs, was through and was kicked on the shin and went down. It's a foul and a booking for the other player, not for our player.
"We're massively disappointed that these key decisions were wrong it always seems to be in favor of the opposition and it's a massive disadvantage for us.
"At 2-2 we looked like the team that were probably going to win the game so it's a shame. It was a good game of football with two good teams and the officials ruined it.
"They are under a lot of pressure and they have to be able to deal with it. Key decisions have to be right for any team and you don't want the referees to be a big influence. Let the teams play a good game of football against each other. That's what everyone wants."
Di Matteo added the Hernandez goal was clearly offside. "I watched it again and the replay shows when Rafael shoots he's in an offside position," he told Sky Sports. "Everything went for United in that sense and that really makes us unhappy.
"He's (Clattenburg) going to watch it again and probably realise he made mistakes. We can't change the result now and that's the biggest disappointment that we have."
Di Matteo admitted his players were a little bit jaded early on, leading to their slow start, from which they recovered incredibly well. "Today was a poor start," he added. "We were slow but the first goal was lucky.
"We had a tough week with three intense games and a long trip to Ukraine. After those first 20 minutes we got into our rhythm and started to play the way we can and the way we want to play.
"We showed great character and responded well to get back into the game and equalise, then had a good number of chances as well. I was confident we could go on and win the game.
"We've got that kind of personality in our dressing room, that we never give up, and who knows if they didn't score the offside goal we could maybe hang onto the draw with nine men, but it becomes difficult when you're down to nine.
"There were two good teams on the pitch and we looked very strong and caused them a lot of problems. De Gea made a couple of fantastic saves and I was confident we could win the game, they looked vulnerable."
Chelsea next take on United yet again the League Cup on Wednesday, and Di Matteo said he would make some changes. "We have to regroup first of all," he said. "We will have a few players missing after we played with nine men and in a week when we had a long trip to Ukraine.
"I have to see how the players are tomorrow and think about what kind of team I put out on Wednesday. We know we have a good and strong team. We just have to ride this moment where we miss a few players, play in three days and get our energy back.
"Today we looked like a team that wanted to win and were very strong out on the pitch. Decisions went against us and made it very difficult but I am sure in the long run this is a team with a lot of qualities and even though we might find moments and situations like this we can come out of it once we get everybody back. We're a good team."
