Benitez: Hazard and Swansea ball boy are both to blame
Rafael Benitez insisted both Eden Hazard and the ball boy he kicked were to blame for the incident which led to the Chelsea playmaker’s sending off.
Hazard was red-carded 10 minutes from the end of the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Swansea, whose 2-0 aggregate win means they will face Bradford in the final.
The ball boy appeared to refuse to give the ball back after it went out of play, leading Hazard to show his frustration.
And Benitez told Sky Sports: “They both recognise there was a mistake.
“The boy was apologising for time wasting. Hazard was frustrated and tried to get the ball. He was kicking the ball and getting the ball.
“We can analyse if for half an hour but we know that both are wrong.”
The interim Chelsea manager added: “You have two legs in this competition and we didn’t take our chances in either. Credit to Swansea because they did well.”
More reaction to follow later.
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24/01/2013 @ 5:34 am
Hazards card should be rescinded and Swansea needs to be fined heavily for their inability to control a persons whos entire role is to pass a ball back to the players and not get involved in the game in any way. This massive tool not only took time wasting to a whole new level, but he even gloated in a tweet prior to the game saying he would do something along these lines.
I hate Chelsea as much as anyone else, but Swansea is in the wrong on this and deserved to be punished, hardly a malicious kick. trying to poke the ball and nothing more. He cares for his team as much as that dim ballboy. Who deserved more than what he got.
23/01/2013 @ 10:54 pm
Massive ban coming up for Hazard at least 20 weeks.