Rafael Benitez has aired his dismay over the challenge that saw in-form striker Demba Ba forced to retire with a broken nose in the 3-2 defeat at Newcastle.
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The Chelsea boss was damning in his criticism of Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini, after the Argentine's dangerous challenge broke the striker's nose on his return to his old club.
And the Spaniard felt Howard Webb's leniency changed the game in favour of the Toon, with the Blues forced to withdraw the Senegalese striker in the 42nd minute without even a caution for Newcastle skipper.
"We have to improve, but we couldn't change the situation of Demba Ba," the 51-year old said. "It was a penalty and a red card for me. In the middle of the park it's just carry on, go back, free kick. In the penalty area it's carry on, go back, penalty and red card.
"It changed the game, we lost a player to a broken nose. It's something to consider. In other circumstances, everyone would be talking about this."
Benitez was still confident his Chelsea side will finish the campaign strongly, despite Saturday's disappointing defeat at St James' Park.
"The team has great team spirit and I'm confident that the team will finish in the top three.
"I felt the reaction of the team in the second-half was fantastic, We scored great goals, we had more chances but we made the mistake to allow them to play on the counterattack."
The former Valencia manager did, concede that there existed areas where his team could still improve.
"If the players show the character that they showed in the second-half, it means something is right.
"But if we cannot control these games, it is something we have to improve," he added.
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