In the 50th minute of Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Saturday, Fernando Torres lost the plot.
He petulantly clipped the heels of Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen as the ball was rolling harmlessly out of play, which saw the Belgian defender, understandably, react angrily.
And as Torres laughed off Vertonghen’s complaints, the Spanish striker suddenly grabbed the defenders face and scratched his neck and cheek in one fell swoop. Neither the referee or the linesman apparently saw it, because if they did, Torres would have gotten a straight-red. Instead he got a yellow card for the initial trip.
(MORE: Jose Mourinho fuming at Jan Vertonghen as Fernando Torres sent off)
However the 27-year-old forward now faces an anxious wait to see if the incident is included in Mike Dean’s match report, if it isn’t, the video will be passed onto the Football Association’s new independent disciplinary panel, (very similar to MLS’ disciplinary panel) who will decide if the striker was guilty of violent conduct.
If they find Torres guilty, his ban will be increased from one game to four, handing Jose Mourinho a huge blow as he begins to rebuild Chelsea to the way he wants them. And despite many mocking his goalscoring record, Torres will have a pivotal role to play in Mourinho’s new-look side.
Jose was certainly complimentary of Torres’ display afterwards, as I spoke with him.
“He was playing very well,” Mourinho said. “I was watching Fernando’s matches for Chelsea in other seasons and it looked to me, a bit heavy, a little slow. Fernando now looks in fantastic shape. He played a very good game. He knows what I think, I don’t have to tell him. He knows I’m very happy with his performances. He knows already.”
One of the reasons Torres got involved in such an incident on Saturday, is because he was all over the pitch after the break. He twice ran through on goal after terrific runs to beat two, three or more players, and looked like a man possessed in the second half. It was the Torres of old, he was chasing lost causes, giving Vertonghen and Spurs’ other defenders a tough time, while using his pace to run effortlessly at Tottenham’s backline.
(MORE: All-square between the master and his apprentice, as Chelsea fight back to draw at Tottenham)
But his bullish display boiled over in the far right corner of White Hart Lane, raising his hands to Vetonghen should have seen him handed a red card. So Torres was lucky to stay on the pitch but eventually, as we now know, he was sent off for a second yellow after an innocuous collision with, you guessed it, Vertonghen.
The Belgian defender got his own back by making a meal of a challenge from Torres, where there was no contact whatsoever. Mourinho wasn’t impressed with the Belgian defender.
“I think in this situation, the referee is not guilty, the player is guilty,” Mourinho said. “Because if nobody touches me and in this moment, I fall, it is not your fault, it is my fault because I fall. So, I think the referee went in the trust when he saw, I think it was Vertonghen. When he pretends that Fernando had a big contact on him, the referee is at a distance and he makes the second yellow card.”
Torres’ display against Spurs showed plenty of promise and helped Chelsea grab a point, but his moment of petulance may see him out of league action until November.
