Mauricio Pochettino says Southampton did not get the rub of the green during this evening’s defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Saints went ahead in west London after only 13 seconds as Jay Rodriguez seized on Michael Essien’s poor back-pass and slotted past Petr Cech.
But Gary Cahill levelled matters ten minutes into the second half, with goalkeeper Artur Boruc needing to be substituted immediately afterwards after clattering into his goalpost.
The hosts seized the initiative, and a John Terry header just after the hour mark and a late third from Demba Ba on 90 minutes rounded off the game.
And manager Pochettino was left unhappy with how the evening’s events were played out.
“We went ahead very early and I thought it was very even in the first half,” he reflected.
“In the second half, I think we were doing well and controlling the game before the goals.
“So I am angry with the end result because there were many decisions in the second half that didn't go our way. We are quite upset about that.
“I think the deciding factor was that the decisions were not going our way – and the person making those decisions were wearing neither red or blue.
“Overall we are frustrated and disappointed with the result.”
Looking for reasons why the game turned, Pochettino admitted injuries to Boruc and midfielder Morgan Schniederlin could well have played a part.
“In the second half we were correcting many things and I think we were carrying the weight of the game well,” he insisted.
“Then we conceded and it all went a bit pear-shaped for us because of Boruc's injury and Morgan going off as well.
“Overall there were many factors that were out of our control and went against us in the end.”
Having suffered back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea, Saints now go into a home double-header against Aston Villa and Manchester City over the coming week.
And Pochettino says the players must not be downbeat about how they have performed on their two trips to the capital.
“We lost at Arsenal and Chelsea, but we knew they would both be hard games,” he reasoned.
“However, we have competed well and that has been the overriding feeling. Hopefully we can finish the month off in a positive fashion with the games coming up.”
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