When Manchester United's Jonny Evans seemingly brought down Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, everyone felt referee Mark Clattenburg was going to book the defender after stopping play. However, much to the surprise of the capacity crowd at Stamford Bridge - United fans included, Clattenburg booked Fernando Torres instead for diving, and with it sending him off the pitch for a second bookable offense.
Evans, while admitting he had made contact with Torres, which the replays clearly showed, insisted Torres deserved to be sent off for going down too easily. "At the time I didn't feel like I'd made contact," Evans told Sky Sports. "I've seen it again and there was a bit of contact but I didn't feel like it was enough to bring him down.
"I think he probably realised he wasn't getting the ball, he's gone down and I think the referee's made the right decision and sent him off."
In a game which saw fortunes swing one way and then the other, United got out of the blocks wonderfully well, scoring two goals in the first 15 minutes, courtesy a David Luis own goal and a well-taken Robin Van Persie strike.
Chelsea, however, found their rhythm in the final ten minutes of the first half, with Juan Mata curling a free kick to reduce the deficit before Ramires equalized early in the second half. With the match nicely poised, the game turned the away side's way when Branislav Ivanovic brought down Ashley Young while through on goal, leading to Clattenburg showing a straight red to the Chelsea right-back.
Once Torres also saw red, United took advantage of their numerical superiority to score the winner via Javier Hernandez, although replays suggested the United striker was offside while the ball was played in. "I think that's probably the hardest game we've had this season, especially towards the end of the first half," Evans added. "Chelsea really came at us and put the pressure on us.
"It was a tough game and we were probably lucky to see it out to 2-1 at half-time.
"Going in 2-1 up was great because it was a bit of an onslaught at that stage, but you've got to show character in games like this. We came out for the second half and you've got to stand up coming here to Stamford Bridge.
"It's a tough game, we knew we were going to be under pressure. They got the equaliser and obviously the sending offs are in-between that, and we managed to finish the game off in the end."
