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On Saturday, Aston Villa beat Chelsea 1-0 at Villa Park. The win came courtesy of a fantastic goal from Fabian Delph, but it was also due, at least in part, to the Blues' spectacular unraveling.
The breakdown likely started when Chelsea saw a goal ruled out thanks to Nemanja Matić handling the ball on its way toward goal - although the visitors were already frustrated by Villa managing to reduce their attack to speculative long shots.
José Mourinho showed his volatility when Chris Foy handed Joe Bennet a yellow for a tackle on Ramires. The Chelsea manager jumped to his feet, waving around an imaginary card, which was apparently meant to signify red, although Mourinho may want to work on his charades.
What really got the Blues' ire up was when Willian was given a second yellow for a tug on Delph's shirt - just seconds after Mou decided not to pull him. Should the Brazilian have been sent off? Probably not. But he was and that paved the way for Delph's brilliant backheel.
In stoppage time, Chelsea truly fell apart, with Ramires getting sent off with a red for a truly horrifying challenge on Karim El Ahmadi - and Mourinho followed him down the tunnel. It was only a few more moments that Chelsea had to play with nine men and no manager, but it means they'll be without Ramires, Willian, and Mourinho for next Saturday's match against Arsenal.
Now José, whose photo could be in the dictionary under "sore loser", says he doesn't want Foy in charge of Chelsea matches anymore. Apparently, the referee has handed out six reds for the Blues in eight matches. Because of this, Mourinho wants the refereeing association to take a look at how Foy handles Chelsea games.
Taking a look at his own side apparently isn't in the game plan, however. Rather than address the horror-tackle from Ramires, Mourinho shifted the conversation toward Gabby Agbonlahor allegedly "behaving aggressively" toward the Chelsea player. That's why Mourinho entered the pitch, he says.
Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't - but no match reports from Saturday night mention such behavior from Agbonlahor. Maybe it's time for Mourinho to simply admit he lost his cool. For the most part, his side just didn't do enough to break through at Villa Park, and certainly didn't look like a team cruising toward a title.
And yes, maybe a couple decisions didn't go Chelsea's way. But that's football. It doesn't mean a certain referee has it out for a specific team. Paul Lambert wasn't calling for Kevin Friend to be banned after his questionable calls in the reverse fixture. David Moyes isn't seeking Mark Clattenburg's ousting after he gave Liverpool three penalties at Old Trafford. Howard Webb was never prevented from taking charge at Manchester United matches, despite popular perception of his favoritism.
The call for Foy's investigation is, more than anything, another of Mourinho's mind games. If the blame is heaped on the referee, that takes the attention off the Blues' performance. People start pouring over tape to look for Agbonlahor advancing threateningly on Ramires, rather than to determine if Fernando Torres was even on the pitch. And the referee lined up for Arsenal's visit to Stamford Bridge? Well, he'll be playing it as conservatively as possible, knowing a mistake against Chelsea could mean having his professionalism called into question.
And that's exactly what Mourinho is after.
