West Ham boss Bilic defends Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has received support from opposite number Slaven Bilic after the Blues’ 2-1 defeat by West Ham.

Mourinho was forced to watch the second half at Upton Park from the stands, after using half-time to contest Nemanja Matic’s sending-off for a second bookable offence.

Chelsea were also unhappy that Cesc Fabregas was flagged for offside before putting the ball in the net at 1-0 down, when he appeared to be level.

Bilic insisted the officials were correct in their decision-making but could understand Mourinho’s frustration.

He said: “I feel for him. A lot of decisions, from his point of view, have gone against Chelsea [of late].

“Today I can defend those two decisions, if I was a referee or as the West Ham manager.

“They weren’t mistakes. They were opinion. The disallowed goal, nobody can say that he was on and nobody can say that he was off.

“Even when you freeze the picture, you are not sure. It was a 50-50 situation.

“But [feeling they should have had penalties] on Tuesday in Kiev and against Southampton, then that game, and another game, it’s probably too much for him. And I would probably be the same.”

Bilic praised his players for the victory, which followed impressive wins over Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.

He added: “I am very proud of my whole team. It was brilliant to win against the champions in front of our own crowd.

“There’s nothing wrong in admitting we are playing good and doing well, and we deserved to win today.”

Mourinho did not speak to the media after the match.