Thursday, February 12, 2015

Martinez: Ivanovic should have been sent off for headbutt

Martinez: Ivanovic should have been sent off for headbutt

The Serbian defender escaped a dismissal, whereas Gareth Barry was given his marching orders, much to the frustration of the Everton boss
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has hit out referee Jonathan Moss for failing to send off Branislav Ivanovic in his side's 1-0 Premier League defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday, before slamming Jose Mourinho's men for their behaviour toward the official.

The visitors looked set to secure a point after Tim Howard produced a string of saves on his return from injury to frustrate the Premier League leaders on Wednesday.

Chelsea were not to be denied, though, as Willian's deflected strike a minute from time ensured Jose Mourinho's side remain seven points clear at the top of the table.

The winner came just after Gareth Barry had been shown a second yellow card for a challenge on the Brazil international, which resulted in a mass confrontation where Ivanovic grabbed James McCarthy by his neck and seemingly headbutted his opponent.

Martinez was furious with Moss' decision not to punish the Serbian defender for his action, while he was not impressed with the Chelsea players' behaviour toward the referee, either.

"Ivanovic's behaviour is wrong. He grabs McCarthy around his neck in a very forceful manner then puts his head against him. James doesn't react a single bit," he told BBC Sport.

"If you want to be on top of the law that's a red card and we got nothing out of that moment.

"Every time a player loses a challenge it feels like the weight of the world is on the referee's shoulders and he feels he needs to react. To give Barry a second yellow card because of the reaction from Chelsea's players is disappointing.

"They surrounded the referee and their conduct was a real shame. It created a little bit of belief for Chelsea and the goal came as a consequence of that. It was a very scrappy goal - if you don't have the momentum often they don't end up in the net."

While Howard performed heroics for the visitors, Petr Cech also showed his class by twice denying former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku and Martinez was left to rue those missed chances.

The Spaniard said: "We were in control. We had clear-cut chances, the best ones of the game - they needed world-class saves from Petr Cech.

"It's a shame we couldn't convert the chances. It's a huge disappointment. Our performance deserved a positive result."

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