West Brom 3 Chelsea 0: Jose Mourinho slams referee Mike Jones for 'bizarre red card' given to Cesc Fabregas for kicking ball at Chris Brunt

Chelsea manager doesn't understand what Jones sent Fabregas off for after he kicked the ball at the West Brom midfielder

Mike Jones issues a red card to Cesc Fabregas (Getty Images)

José Mourinho hit out at referee Mike Jones last night for his decision to issue Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas with a "bizarre red card" in the 3-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion.

Fabregas was sent off in the 29th minute at the Hawthorns after he kicked a ball that struck Albion midfielder Chris Brunt on the head as referee Jones was dealing with a melee involving Diego Costa and Albion defender Gareth McAuley in the home penalty box. Mourinho said it be wrong for Fabregas to face a three-match ban for violent conduct for the incident and went on to criticise Jones for failing to protect Costa.

“What is this a sending-off for?” asked the Chelsea manager. “Where is the danger of the situation? Where is the aggressiveness in the situation to get a red card in a friendly game almost? I don’t understand.

“One of the top referees would solve the problem with words,” he added of the 47-year-old match official. “For me a top referee, a big personality in control of the game, goes there, has two or three words and it is done. It is a bizarre red card.”

Fabregas now faces the prospect of sitting out Chelsea’s final home game against Sunderland as well as the first two games of next term through suspension, and an unhappy Mourinho added: “A three-game ban for this? Jesus Christ. Of course it is harsh to get three games for this.”

The incident that led to Fabregas’s dismissal began when Costa shoved McAuley to the ground off the ball. The pair clashed again moments later, but Mourinho accused the Albion players of deliberately trying to provoke the Chelsea striker. “You have to speak more about the opponents than Costa,” he said. “If you see what they did to him from the first minute, it is easy to understand there are other people to blame. If the ref wants to protect the talent and punish the bullies, it is easy for him.”

Mourinho was left puzzled by Fabregas' red card (Getty Images)

For Chelsea, it was the first defeat in the Premier League since New Year’s Day. Since winning the title a fortnight ago, they have drawn with Liverpool and now lost to Albion and Mourinho said it was natural that they would ease off. “When you play from August at the top of your motivation and concentration and commitment, feeling the pressure to win every three days, [it is normal] to have a rest when you are champions – you breathe out and everything changes. Let’s blame the players a little bit, let’s blame myself, and let’s blame the top contenders for the title because they were not good enough to fight with us until the end.”