Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has criticised the performance of referee Phil Dowd during the thrilling London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane today.
Chelsea fell to just their second defeat of the season as Spurs ran out 5-3 victors in North London, and Mourinho acknowledged that his side made a number of errors that cost them.
However, he also suggested that the officials played a "predictable" part in the defeat.
"I think we made some defensive mistakes, some individual defensive mistakes. It was not easy for my defenders to cope with Nacer Chadli and Harry Kane. It was also very difficult for Tottenham defenders to deal with an amazing Eden Hazard and good Diego Costa," Mourinho told BT Sport.
"You can speak about crucial moments of the game but I prefer to focus on the result. The players tried a lot but the fifth goal killed a bit our fantastic reaction. We had important Christmas gifts in the last two matches, Christmas gifts that people who love football do not like. I don't want to be punished. I want to be around for the next match so I prefer to say that we just lost. Tomorrow is another day.
"Every game is unpredictable but there are things in the game that are becoming predictable. Of course I hate to lose but I prefer to lose like I did against Newcastle with a clean performance from referee Martin Atkinson and an unlucky performance by us. But in a game when you lose because of football is a different feeling. You pay well to your pundits so hopefully they will say it is true."
Mourinho was also unhappy with the officials during Chelsea's last match, as Cesc Fabregas was controversially booked for diving inside the penalty area.
Barney Corkhill
