Hiddink says Blues should have been awarded penalty

Guus Hiddink said Chelsea were denied a clear penalty against Stoke City but admitted a draw was a fair result.

The Blues led thanks to Bertrand Traore’s stunning long-range strike six minutes before the break, but the visitors earned a point through Mame Diouf’s late header.

Manager Hiddink said referee Mark Clattenburg’s failure to award a spot-kick when Marc Muniesa clumsily challenged Oscar with the score at 1-0 was a “key moment”.

“It was a clear clear penalty,” the Dutchman said. “It is not often I am saying that, but it (a foul) would have been given had it been outside the box.

“It was a key moment but we must not say that Stoke was not pushing. They were encouraged by that and have some very creative players in their attacking part of the team.”

Hiddink added: “It is frustrating because we conceded a late goal. We started rather sloppy in the first half.

“After 15 minutes we got more energetic and we got more composure and scored a beautiful goal through Traore. But in the end I think it was a fair result.”

The draw means Chelsea are now 10 points off a top-four place in the Premier League, with just nine games left to play.

Hiddink conceded that Champions League qualification now looks beyond the Blues.

“It is difficult, almost impossible,” he said. “Especially when other teams are also knocking on that door – like West Ham for instance.”