Referee Martin Atkinson has received widespread criticism after deciding against sending off David Luiz in Chelsea's 4-0 win over Manchester United, although Jose Mourinho declined to discuss the decision.
Chelsea seized an early lead at Stamford Bridge through Pedro and doubled their advantage through Gary Cahill on 21 minutes, but they might have gone down to 10 men on 41 minutes when Luiz made a high challenge on Marouane Fellaini.
The defender only received a booking for the foul, and Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante added further goals in the second half to complete a substantial win.
Asked about the incident in his postmatch news conference, Mourinho said in response to a reporter's question: "You know, I leave it for you.
"Because after a defeat 4-0, if I'm going to speak about the referee, you are going to jump [to conclusions], especially you because you are one of the guys who is not very honest.
"If you think that to play against 10 men for an hour, more or less, would be significant and would be an important change in the game, then you have to say. You have to write it."
On whether Luiz had injured Fellaini, who was replaced at half-time, Mourinho replied: "If I'm going to say he was injured, you'll say again. It was a bit of both [tactical and injury]."
However, former referees' chief Keith Hackett was strongly critical of the decision, writing in a column for the Daily Telegraph that Atkinson "lacked the courage" to dismiss the defender.
He wrote: "A red card offence is a tackle that is reckless with excessive force that endangers the safety of an opponent, and Luiz's challenge on Marouane Fellaini during Chelsea's 4-0 win over Manchester United was all three of those.
"Martin needed to be 100 percent certain to make the call, but from where he was standing I cannot see how he could have had any doubt. You have to be brave enough in the big games to make the correct calls on the big decisions, and Martin wasn't."
He added: "Martin's errors came as no surprise to me. Not because he is a poor referee -- far from it -- but because he has had a huge workload this season and made a dreadful error in his previous match when he sent off West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell.
"Right from the beginning I thought Martin looked mentally fatigued, his confidence shaken by last week's mistake, and you could see it in his bad decision in the very first minute to book Pedro for his goal celebration."
Sky Sports pundits Graeme Souness, Thierry Henry and Gary Neville all agreed that Luiz should have been shown a red card.
Former Liverpool midfielder Souness said Atkinson "completely bottled it," adding: "That's not a difficult decision to make," Souness told Super Sunday. "The referee has a full view of it. Does he not see six studs showing? He's seen something so he gives him a yellow card.
Ex-Arsenal striker Henry described Atkinson's decision as "a bit strange" and said: "Obviously we have the replays, but the referee has a great view of it and that's a red."
Former Manchester United captain Neville agreed that Luiz was "very lucky to stay on the pitch" but correctly predicted that Mourinho would not use the incident as an excuse.
"Obviously it would have had an impact on this game and will be, I suppose, one reason Jose Mourinho could give, but I can't think he will deflect too much away from his team today," he said. "His team have been really poor."