Swansea defender Chico Flores’ 2nd yellow card in a matter of minutes —- this one for fouling Chelsea’s André Schürrle — resulted in a dismissal that left the hosts shorthanded for more than 70 minutes of a 1-0 loss Sunday. The Guardian’s Stuart James reports that Chelsea in general, John Terry in particular, had undue influence on referee Phil Dowd :
Asked about his part in the Flores incident, Terry said: “I just said, ‘It’s a second yellow for me’. He gave him one a couple minutes before on the halfway line and that one just outside the box is probably even more a yellow than the other one. Fair play to Phil, the ref, it was a big decision to make and I thought he made the right one and credit goes to him for that.
“I’m speaking as a Chelsea player, but when we all sit back and look at it then it’s definitely two yellows. It’s simple as that. If it’s a minute, two, five minutes into the game and it is a yellow or red card then it doesn’t matter. Thankfully we managed to take advantage.”
Garry Monk, the Swansea head coach, was bitterly upset at the time, in particular with the reaction of the Chelsea staff and players. “If you go by the letter of the law, it is a sending off. The more disappointing thing was that it looked like he [Dowd] had signalled straight away ‘no’, as if to signal it doesn’t warrant another yellow,” Monk said. “For their bench and manager to [then] surround the fourth official, and their players surround the referee himself, and then the red card comes so [much] later on, it makes you wonder.