Tottenham 1 Chelsea 1: Vertonghen influenced referee, fumes Mourinho

Jose Mourinho claimed Jan Vertonghen’s “pretending” influenced referee Mike Dean’s decision to send off Fernando Torres as Chelsea draw with Tottenham.

Chelsea captain John Terry had cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson’s first-half opener at White Hart Lane before Torres was shown a second yellow card after a clash with the Tottenham defender.

Mourinho felt his side were in the ascendancy before Torres was dismissed in the 81st minute – and the Portuguese coach claimed the official was influenced by Vertonghen’s reaction after the clash.

“I don’t think it was a fair result because they were better than us in the first half but not much better,” said Mourinho.

“They didn’t create so many chances, but enough to be deserving the advantage of 1-0.

“In the second half there was only one team, and the team was very, very strong, until the moment the referee made a mistake. A big mistake, and a mistake that has a big influence in the result.

“I think in these situations, the referee is not guilty. I think the player is guilty.

“I think the referee trusted [his reaction] when he saw Vertonghen. I don’t think [it was] Michael Dawson, because English players don’t normally do that, so I think it was Vertonghen.

“When he pretends that Fernando had a big contact on him, the referee is at a distance and he gives the second yellow card.”

Mourinho felt that the red card swung the game back in Spurs’ favour after the Blues had dominated for large portions of the second half.

“At that moment we were much better,” he said. “They were in big trouble, really big trouble. We were winning everything in midfield, every second ball.

“We were going in waves of attack and Andre Schurrle has the chance that normally has to score and kill the game. It was a great save by Hugo Lloris.”

The result moved Chelsea up to third place in the Premier League table, while Spurs leapfrogged Arsenal into top spot ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Swansea City.

“In the end, it leaves a bad taste because we should win,” Mourinho added.

“But we’ve already played two title contenders away from home – at Old Trafford and here – and we got a point. At this moment it doesn’t leave us where we want to be, which is up in the table.

“I think this second half was probably the best we’ve played, also the first half against Hull City – but I think this was our best performance.”