Bruce rips Chelsea’s Cahill, but Mourinho claims ‘I don’t believe he dived’

Hull City manager Steve Bruce laid into Gary Cahill following a contentious match between Hull and Chelsea, saying he dove 'like something out of Swan Lake' as Jose Mourinho came to his defence.

Gary Cahill of Chelsea shown after challenging Sone Aluko of Hull City during their Premier League match at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Clive Rose / Getty Images / December 13, 2014

Steve Bruce accused Gary Cahill of taking a tumble "like something out of Swan Lake" and claimed he should have been sent off as Hull City went down 2-0 to Chelsea.

Jose Mourinho’s men edged their card-laden clash with Hull on Saturday as efforts from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa got them back to winning ways in the league.

However, the 2-0 triumph was overshadowed by a number of controversial decisions, with referee Chris Foy dishing out seven yellow cards and a second-half red to Tom Huddlestone at Stamford Bridge.

Bruce had no arguments with the sending off, but was infuriated Cahill had not gone before that after going down in the box when Chelsea only held a one-goal advantage.

The Hull manager, as well as his players, had expected Foy to hand the England defender a second booking, only to be incensed when the referee pointed for a goal-kick.

“I’ve just been asked if Cahill should have gone and the simple answer is yes, especially given the referee has already booked two people for simulation or diving,” Bruce said.

“Listen, if it is Oscar, Hazard or Willian, they are running at that pace that the smallest connection can bring them over. There is no question about that.

“This is England’s centre-half, by the way. For me, it could have been a red card in his first challenge on (Sone) Aluko. That was reckless and dangerous.

“So when you come, you expect the referee to do their job. It is difficult enough to come here and, consequently, Tom Huddlestone, who is the most laid back person, is frustrated with the decisions against him and produced a horror challenge which deserves a red card.

“But when you come to places like this, then you need them to make the right call.

“When you see it back and look at the replays, there’s no justification for it because we all know what he tried to do: he has tried to win the penalty by taking off thinking (David) Meyler was going to challenge him.

"In Latin countries, it's applauded if you gain a penalty or free-kick. But the reason why people enjoy the Premier League, for me, is because of the honesty and integrity of it.

“We need to stop this horrible simulation which, unfortunately, has crept in. The referees have got a hard job but that wasn’t a hard decision. Not from 12 yards, not from where I was.”

Costa and Willian were both booked for simulation at Stamford Bridge, where Bruce conceded the fact Cahill was a home-grown centre-back perhaps swayed the referee it was not a dive.

That, he says, should not be the case, especially given the tumble is “like something out of Swan Lake – it’s that blatant”.

“If I say what I really, genuinely want to say, then I’ll be hauled up in front of the Premier League again and I’m going to have to pay the 10 grand or whatever it was,” said Bruce, also aggrieved by what he felt was a foul in the build-up to Hazard’s opener.

“I think I paid £20-odd (thousand) last year so, before Christmas, I will make sure I button my lips and ... keep my money in my pocket.”

Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho claimed not to have had a good enough view of the supposed incidents of simulation, yet still launched a staunch defence of Cahill.

“I don’t make (anything of) it because I didn’t see it on TV and I was very far away,” he said.

“But I had this question before, from your colleagues on TV and radio, and I don’t believe Cahill dived.

“And if you tell me I am wrong because he dived, something happened. Or they blocked his run. Or they touched. Or he lost balance.

“But that big, honest guy, I don’t believe he dived in the opposition’s box.”

That incident, along with several others, eclipsed what was a solid, if unspectacular win for Chelsea.

“We didn’t play especially well, but we played well enough for everybody connected with Chelsea – supporters, players, staff – to be calm, because the game was always under control,” Mourinho said.

“We never felt really the game in risk, but I have to agree: we had already this season many special performances and today we just had moments of good football, moments of happiness and creativity and dynamism. Just moments. Not for 90 minutes.”

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