Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata decided to keep mum on the controversies surrounding Mark Clattenburg and his alleged use of inappropriate language towards the Spaniard and John Obi Mikel, instead focusing on the Blues' fighting spirit and team ethic.
Chelsea lost to Manchester United 3-2 in the weekend's big English Premier League game, with referee Clattenburg handing out two red cards to the home side - the second one a particularly harsh second yellow to Fernando Torres, which eventually proved costly as United grabbed a late winner.
After the match, the Blues filed an official complaint about Clattenburg, after the referee allegedly used abusive language on John Obi Mikel and Mata. The Spaniard, who scored a wonderfully taken goal for his side in the match, chose to focus on the matters on the pitch, rather than the ones outside it, failing to touch upon any of the allegations on his official blog.
"This time I'm writing to you from home, just arrived from Stamford Bridge, and obviously disappointed after our defeat," Mata wrote on his official blog. "It was a very important match for us, first vs second, and we were eager to win in order to open a gap at the top of the table. Yet we couldn't make it.
"The match started bad for us, conceding two goals in the early minutes (the first one very unlucky), but there was plenty of time to fight back. And we did it. Little by little, with the support of the crowd, we put more and more pressure on United and we managed to tie the game thanks to a very intense start in the second half.
"But soon afterwards, when the team's belief was higher, we had to play with nine men after Torres being unfairly sent off. Yet I prefer to be positive, we were very competitive against a great rival and we fought back with 0-2. Also we keep at the top of the table. It's still too early, but it's important to be up there."
Mata believes, despite the unfortunate defeat, Chelsea will look to continue the good start to the season, with their next match being another face-off against United in the League Cup Wednesday.
"Football keeps going, there is no time to look back and this coming Wednesday we are again facing United, again at Stamford Bridge. The Capital One (Cup) this time. I hope we can win and forget today's defeat."
