Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has defended Branislav Ivanovic amid allegations that the Serbian defender took a dive in the latest 2-0 win over West Ham.
The opposition manager, Sam Allardyce, criticised the 30-year-old after the win. Ivanovic appeared to go down very easily under a challenge from Andy Carroll, who confronted him immediately after the incident. Chelsea have had a number of bookings this season related to simulation, but Mourinho has constantly maintained that he does not see any signs of trying to con the referee within his team.
Chelsea maintained their position at the top of the table following this victory. As a result, they are almost certain to go into the New Year top of the table. Since Manchester City managed to follow up this result with a 3-1 win over West Brom, three points were of paramount importance to the West London team. Now that they have achieved it, they can concentrate on the next league match against Southampton which will come in only 48 hours. Mourinho has largely kept his starting lineup intact which includes the Serb. The 30-year-old has already featured in 24 matches this season and he is one of the few players to have played all the 18 league matches.
“I think it’s a penalty. The other guy grabs him if you look at it on television. But it was an isolated situation.I had two training sessions for Saturday but they were crying so much in the dressing room I’ve decided to make a change.Because of that instead of two sessions tomorrow they will have only one and are training now,” said Mourinho. “I thought he (Ivanovic) went down looking for a penalty. I don’t know about (players being) entitled to go down,” said Allardyce, whose team have slipped behind Southampton into fifth place.
