Match of the Day Two pundit and former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton slammed Leroy Fer for his challenge on Gary Cahill during the 2-2 draw between Swansea City and the Blues by labelling it as an "assault."
Cahill was incensed by Andre Marriner's failure to penalise the Dutchman for a clear foul in the build-up to the Swans' second goal as Chelsea dropped points for the first time in the Premier League despite two Diego Costa goals at the Liberty Stadium.
The Blues defender himself took to social media and spoke to reporters after the game to vent his fury at Marriner's decision and claimed it was such an obvious decision it could have been made from the moon.
And Sutton was equally as bemused by Marriner's decision, claiming it proved the turning point in the game.
"I thought he [Cahill] spoke really brilliantly, basically it was a foul... it was an assault," he said.
"How Andre Marriner didn't see that, I don't know.
"It was ridiculous and it cost Chelsea, the match was so one sided.
"That was such a big moment and all you are asking for is for the referee to make the right decision."
WATCH: Chris Sutton slams Leroy Fer's challenge on Gary Cahill
Fellow pundit Jermaine Jenas praised Cahill for how he conducted himself in his candid post-match interview on the incident and believes he was right to approach Marriner for a discussion after the game.
"Not only did he speak from the heart, he was respectful," he said.
"He said he respects Andre Marriner but he has made mistakes within his own career as a player and you put your hand up and he just wants the referee to do the same thing which is why he wae.
"I think he has handled that situation very well, given how high emotions were running and you could see how upset he was about it."
Chelsea's blushes were spared by Costa's second goal of the game as his acrobatic effort nine minutes from time rescued a point, with the Spaniard having initially put the Blues in the lead with a composed 18th-minute finish.
Gylfi Sigurdsson's penalty after Thibaut Courtois' foul on him pulled the home side level before Fer's controversial goal to put the Swans in front.
