Sir Alex Ferguson pulled few punches in his assessment of referee Martin Atkinson's performance in Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Tuesday night. Ferguson was unhappy with Atkinson both for awarding Chelsea's "soft" matchwinning penalty and for not sending off David Luiz moments earlier when he appeared to foul Wayne Rooney - himself the beneficiary of some lenient refereeing at the weekend. Ferguson said: "The penalty kick was so soft. Deary me. But we played very well. It was a great performance by us. We didn't deserve that.
When it is Rooney elbowing someone it is huge news. When Luiz elbows Chicharito and actually hurts him (never seen him down often) no one recalls a thing about it?