Chelsea’s disciplinary issues came around again during their Champions League victory over Benfica, however things could have been even worse if Jose Mourinho had got his way in the first half.
The Blues held on to a 1-0 win against the Portuguese side, however were forced to do so with 10 men again following Joao Pedro’s late red card.
The Brazilian was the third player in four games to be sent off, with Robert Sanchez and Trevoh Chalobah being shown red against Manchester United and Brighton respectively.
There were seven other yellow cards shown to players across both teams as well as Pedro’s two cautions. One of those from Chelsea who was booked was Enzo Fernandez, for delaying the restart in the first half.
Jose Mourinho not happy with refereeing decision during Chelsea vs Benfica
Moments before that, the World Cup winner had committed a foul on the edge of the Benfica penalty area, cynically blocking off his opponent from starting a potential counter attack.
He was not shown a yellow card for this incident, despite the protests of the man in the away dugout.
As per the commentary team for TNT Sports, Mourinho was looking for Fernandez to be booked at this point, which would have seen him in big trouble when he kicked the ball away from a Benfica free-kick a few minutes later.
The commentators added that the Blues captain on the day was given a warning by the referee when the players emerged for the second half, and he remained on his best behaviour for the rest of the game.
If Fernandez had found himself sent off, it would’ve been very difficult to see Chelsea hold on to a narrow victory, with them soaking up pressure in the final minutes of the game.
Discipline becoming an issue for Chelsea
Despite Enzo Maresca resisting the opportunity to place blame on the red cards for Chelsea’s underwhelming few weeks, it is clearly becoming an issue.
The game against United was one of their best chances to break their duck of 12 years without a win at Old Trafford, however losing their goalkeeper after just four minutes essentially put an end to that hope.
Chalobah will be suspended for this weekend’s huge game against Liverpool, leaving the boss likely to have to select youngster Josh Acheampong for the big game.
He could be paired by Benoit Badiashile, who made his first start of the season against Benfica and impressed with his performance.
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