Alex Ferguson accused David Luiz of being a “diving swan” to fool the referee Howard Webb into sending off Rafael da Silva near the end of Chelsea’s vital 1-0 win against Manchester United. Ferguson was also strongly critical of the visitors’ Brazilian for smiling on the ground while he apparently writhed in pain.
Chelsea’s victory, secured by Juan Mata’s deflected 87th-minute shot, makes them strong favourites to secure Champions League qualification. They can all but secure that with a win over Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday due to their superior goal difference.
But Ferguson’s focus was on the game’s late flashpoint, accusing David Luiz of exaggeration, a trait the Manchester United manager said was more common among foreign-born players.
In the moment immediately before Da Silva kicked his compatriot in the back of the leg, David Luiz appeared to elbow the United player. Then, after the defender dropped to the floor following the right-back’s challenge, he could be seen smiling. This caused Ferguson to believe that David Luiz had been play-acting.
'Rolled about'
"The ref has been bought by the fact Luiz is rolling about," he said. "But whether the ref will do anything about it, I doubt very much. When a player retaliates he gets punished the most. Luiz rolled about. You see that with these European, foreign and South American players.
“He retaliates but Luiz quite clearly elbows him twice, then rolls about like a diving swan and that convinces the referee. He was smiling. It’s bad. What kind of professional is that? He was elbowed and he retaliated. That’s what always happens, the player who retaliates always gets the bigger penalty and it was clear that Luiz elbowed him twice. It was rash what he did, he’s a young lad and should know better but retaliation never works.
“I wouldn’t say it was violent conduct. The referee hasn’t even seen it, I don’t think he could see it at all. But he has gone with the fact that Luiz has rolled about on the floor and I think that convinced him it was a red card.”
Under FA rules it appears unlikely that David Luiz will face any retrospective action for his conduct.
Asked about the incident Rafael Benitez said: “I didn’t see the incident or replays. I am always trying to enjoy if we win, you can change nothing if you complain when you lose. I haven’t seen it and I will not say too much – there are 200 incidents each weekend in the league.”
The victory means Chelsea may need to win only one of their last three matches to secure at least the Champions League play-off spot that comes with fourth place, due to superior goal difference. Benitez said: “It’s massive for us. It was an important step forward. For us every game is massive now. We did really well, we have to beat Tottenham and that will not be easy.
Great atmosphere
"This game was difficult but Wednesday will be even more important. Still it's crucial because by winning we will be there but it's even more important to them so it should be a great atmosphere at Stamford Bridge."
For Ferguson there was an acceptance that Chelsea were worthy of defeating his side. “The team took their foot off the pedal, there was no real edge to our game all day,” the Scot said.
“There’s an expectation all the time and we don’t approach games in an easy way. Training was fine and there was an edge to it, but today that was missing. It was a bit of a lucky goal . . . I can’t make any excuse for my players in terms of performance. The referee’s decisions went against us I thought, they surrounded the referee all day, four and five players all the time and I think that affected the referee.”
Guardian Service
