José Mourinho was in full flow, detailing the education being offered Diego Costa by his new team-mates on the foibles of English football and insisting that only two of the Spain forward’s seven cautions this season had been justified, when the referee Chris Foy shuffled past the huddle outside the changing rooms. “Look at him,” said the Chelsea manager. “Mr Foy. Mr Foy. Come and tell the guys, please. Diego is crying in the dressing room because you gave him a yellow card, and these guys are asking me why.”
The official initially appeared embarrassed, craving the anonymity of the darkness at the end of the tunnel. But, rather than escaping into the night, he paused and eventually drew a handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to Mourinho, presumably for Costa to dry his eyes. The manager cracked up in fits of hysterics, the mood instantly lightened, even if his concern over Costa’s reputation preceding him will persist. No one has been booked more often in the Premier League this season than the Brazil-born forward, a player whose eagerness to rough up opposing centre-halves alerted referees to potential trouble before the season started.
The aggression will bring the type of disciplinary problems Mourinho will accept. His objection has been over the perceived softer yellows, for petty fouls and now, more than once, for diving. Saturday’s incident of simulation came just before the hour mark, when he tumbled a little too theatrically over Tom Huddlestone’s threat of a challenge. Costa did not stay grounded for long or, indeed, appeal for a free-kick but was cautioned regardless. “I can’t believe seven bookings because I remember two that are understandable and fair,” said Mourinho. “One was against Newcastle, because he complained with the referee with arms in the air and body language that was not acceptable for referees.
“The other one was against Liverpool, when there was a really aggressive duel with [Martin] Skrtel, fighting in a yellow-card way. All the others [were incorrect]: the first one at Burnley is a penalty and a red card for the keeper; other times when it was not simulation; or when he touches one guy and it is a yellow card. Everything he does is a yellow. But seven? It looks like everybody comes ready for him. When he was at Atlético he created a certain image and people don’t believe that he can change … that we can teach him what English football is – the mentality, what people accept, what is a red card here. People don’t see he is intelligent enough to understand it. He has changed.”
Those changes were instigated in talks with staff and team-mates, the likes of Cesc Fàbregas and César Azpilicueta warning the forward how any hint of an elbow or tackle from behind would be punished. He has apparently taken that advice on board, not that the card tally to date would suggest as much and his yellow card on Saturday did not feel outrageous. Rather more in focus was Foy’s overall performance, and particularly his decision to spare Gary Cahill a dismissal, either for a lunge at Sone Aluko or his own dive between Huddlestone and David Meyler while the hosts’ lead was still restricted to Eden Hazard’s early header.
Steve Bruce denounced that as theatrics better suited for Swan Lake, with frustration at the non-award – particularly given the referee had been willing to caution Willian and, later, Costa for the same offence – soon gripping Huddlestone. The midfielder’s horrible challenge on Filipe Luís merited the red card. He now faces a four-match suspension, after earlier picking up his fifth caution of the season, and will also be fined by his club. “Knowing Tom the way I do, he’ll be disappointed,” said Bruce. “There was an accumulation of reasons why it happened.” Not least the way the match was slipping away.
This was Hull’s ninth game without a win, the defeat confirmed by Costa’s first goal in four matches, though there was a show of support from the travelling fans for their beleaguered manager. “Well, they only chanted my name because of the way their team played, and rightly so,” said Bruce.
“Even with 10 men, they’re still competing. I appreciate their support, but if they keep seeing their team perform like that, then I think they’d see as much as I do: I’m convinced we’ll be OK.”
The loss of Michael Dawson, for at least a month, with a hamstring was a blow, while Hatem Ben Arfa’s time at the club is clearly over with the player training alone in Paris. These are troubled times.