It wasn't a classic, but Chelsea/United in the FA Cup last night furnished plenty of uniquely English football headlines. We had the circularity of Jose Mourinho returning to 'Judas' chants having left Chelsea claiming his players had betrayed him, the confluence of hot air as Fabio Capello and a hand-dryer interrupted Jose Mourinho's press conference, the traditional Mourinho backhander at the referee: Michael Oliver is a referee of "great potential", according to Jose, plus we had harsh red cards, harsh challenges that went unpunished, and a bit of a scrap between the managers.
Manchester United have been charged by the FA with failing to control their players, which is sure to earn the scorn of Mourinho, what with it being preceded with the unfortunate sending off of Ander Herrera.
But the Football Association giveth and the Football Association taketh away, and Mourinho is lucky not have another suspension to contend with this weekend. Marcos Rojo got away with this sly stamp on Eden Hazard, an escape which we presumed was down to the referee not seeing it.
Bonus Rojo "stamp" #CHEMUN pic.twitter.com/kZcfBcCT2r
— noizeuk (@noizeuk) March 13, 2017
Rojo, however, has escaped censure, as the referee had seen the incident and included it in his referees' report, meaning that the FA cannot take issue a retrospective punishment.
The decision has provoked the fury of Tyrone Mings, the Bournemouth defender who is sitting out the next five matches for his stamp on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Mings and Bournemouth released statements professing the player's innocence, but he must serve
a five-match ban.
He wasn't impressed with the decision not to ban Rojo:
Brevity being the soul of wit there...
See Also: "We Thought He Would Get A Call Up" - The Preston View Of Greg Cunningham's Exclusion
