Benitez blasts ref following FA Cup exit

Chelsea’s run in the FA Cup ended today as the title holders were beaten 2-1 by Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.

Goals from Samir Nasri (35) and Sergio Aguero (47) helped Roberto Mancini’s side into the final despite a few shaky moments following Demba Ba’s goal in the 66th minute.

In truth City deserve their place in the final as they were the better team for the most part and you cannot expect to win a match if you only decide to turn up after the hour mark, but the refereeing of Chris Foy will leave a bitter taste in the mouth with his decision making (or lack of).

Rafael Benitez certainly wasn’t impressed by Foy’s failure to award Chelsea a penalty after Vincent Kompany tried to undress Fernando Torres in the penalty area. The Spaniard told the TV reporters that it was a ‘clear penalty’.

“The main thing was the penalty. It could have been a red card as well as a penalty. It was a clear penalty.

“The officials should have seen it.

“You could see that Torres’ shirt was pulled – I don’t know what was in the head of the referee, but it was a clear penalty.”

I’ll put this one down to frustration on Benitez’s part as I’m not sure how easy it would have been for Foy to be 100% sure on giving the penalty, especially as it could have looked as though they were impeding each other from certain angles.

However, there were a fair few fouls that the ref failed to acknowledge for both sides, even when they were right in front of him. But the talk will surround Sergio Aguero’s two-footed lunge on David Luiz and it really ought to have seen the Argentine walking off for an early bath.

Of course, there’s no guarantee Aguero will get punished for the challenge as we recently saw Wigan’s Callum McManaman get away with a much worse challenge on Newcastle’s Massadio Haidara.

But again, take nothing away from the opponents. It was just their day.