Roberto Di Matteo played down the significance of Chelsea’s controversial second goal in their FA Cup semi-final victory over rivals Tottenham.
Juan Mata’s effort was adjudged to have crossed the line when it did not, leaving Spurs to ponder what might have been – despite the Blues scoring three more goals to win 5-1 and set up a return to Wembley to face Liverpool in the final.
Interim boss Di Matteo insisted his team deserved their triumph and also pointed to refereeing decisions that have gone against them in the past.
“Apparently it didn’t [cross the line], so we were lucky. But many times before we’ve had decisions go against us,” he said.
“We believed we should have had a penalty in the league game against them with Ramires. Sometimes you get decisions and sometimes you don’t.
“We scored not two goals but five, so I’m not sure how much difference it would have made.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea have condemned the actions of Blues fans who did not respect a pre-match silence held as a mark of respect to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
Chelsea released a statement saying the club was “extremely disappointed that a very small minority of fans embarrassed the club today by not honouring the moment’s silence.”
Click here for the Chelsea v Tottenham quiz
See also:
Chelsea v Tottenham: Player ratings
Controversial Mata goal helps Blues thrash Tottenham
Di Matteo confrms Luiz is doubt for Barcelona clash
Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook
This post was last modified on 17/04/2012
