Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink says the incident in which Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole "brutally brought down" Eden Hazard was far worse than the challenge that earned John Terry a red card at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Terry was given a second booking by referee Mike Jones for a clumsy tackle on Wahbi Khazri in the final minute of injury time and will now serve a two-match ban, ruling him out of Chelsea's remaining Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and newly-crowned champions Leicester City.
After the match Hiddink claimed that the decision to send off Terry -- in what will prove his last act in a Chelsea shirt unless he is offered a contract extension -- was "over the top," and the Dutchman believes that Cattermole's late challenge on Hazard early in the second half was far more worthy of punishment.
"I don't want any red cards to be encouraged by me, but when you compare this challenge to the one between Terry and his opponent, that's different," Hiddink said of Cattermole's tackle. "He [Hazard] was brutally brought down.
"He was penetrating very well at that moment. With his sharpness of the last two weeks, he could have damaged Sunderland a lot."
Chelsea led at half-time at the Stadium of Light, with goals from Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic cancelling out Khazri's 30-yard thunderbolt, but Fabio Borini and Jermain Defoe struck inside three second-half minutes to snatch a vital 3-2 victory for Sunderland.
Hiddink believes that the intense Stadium of Light atmosphere played a key role in the home side's comeback after the break, but insists that his players should have handled the situation better.
"For them I think the crowd felt like the 12th man," Hiddink added. "It was not hostile, just a very enthusiastic atmosphere, but my players are experienced in that.
"We should have coped. Sunderland felt the energy of the crowd but it's worse that we let them stay in it by not killing the game off. It made them a little more energetic in the second half.
"In the first half Sunderland had maybe three or four chances. You can say they wanted it desperately, but we wanted to win of course.
"There was a little lack of sharpness in finishing it off. I think that was maybe the difference. When you take too much time, you start thinking but then the moment is over."