Chelsea players influenced referee, says Neil Warnock

New Delhi: Manager of Crystal Palace said Chelsea players "influenced" referee Craig Pawson during Crystal Palace's defeat 1-2 against the Blues on Saturday.

The incident Warnock referred to was when Cesar Azpilicueta got sent off for a two-footed challenge few minutes before Damien Delaney was dismissed.

The BBC quoted Warnock saying: "The one thing I've not missed when I've been doing media work is refereeing performances like that. I thought he was influenced today. He had four Chelsea players around him."

After already being booked for an illegal challenge on Loic Remy, Delaney was shown a second yellow card by Craig Pawson.

The Chelsea players surrounding the referee were Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic and Oscar approached when he decided to give Delaney the marching orders.

Chelsea ran victors with goals from Oscar and Fabregas. Fraizer Campbell scored a late consolation for Palace.