Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari kept his mouth tightly shut after his side failed to snatch the Barclays Premier League leadership from Liverpool last night.
Scolari refused to attend the post-match press conference, afraid, it seems, he could say something about referee Phil Dowd that would get him in trouble with the football authorities after the 0-0 draw with Everton and the red card for skipper John Terry.
But if Scolari slipped off into the Merseyside night in silence with his frustrated squad, there will be plenty who will want to dissect a performance that again saw the west Londoners short of their best.
It is the second weekend on the trot Chelsea have failed to take advantage of a Liverpool draw. After this display, the Anfield men will be number one at Christmas.
Scolari will now be without Terry for three matches - the Premier League games against West Brom and Fulham and the FA Cup tie with Southend.
It could have been worse, because for Chelsea, these are not the most difficult of fixtures.
But the real problem for Scolari was the overall display of his team, who lacked genuine conviction even before Terry's dismissal against an injury-ravaged Everton.
Scolari may have been furious with referee Dowd at the break after England captain Terry had been red-carded for a high tackle on Leon Osman.
But Everton boss David Moyes considered the tackle "reckless" and was not surprised to see Terry dismissed.
A Chelsea spokesman said: "None of the management team feel able to come up for a press conference.
"They had issues with a number of decisions and felt that they could well get themselves into trouble if they did speak."
Moyes revealed Osman has an ankle injury following Terry's challenge that could keep him out of the Boxing Day trip to Middlesbrough.
Moyes, who also saw a late Stevens Pienaar 'goal' ruled out by Dowd, said: "I felt the referee and linesman got that decision (the disallowed goal) right. Many managers may not say that.
"But I felt it was just offside and the ball could have just been in Petr Cech's hands as well, so from that point of view, the officials were right.
"My first reaction from the sidelines was that the tackle for the sending-off was reckless.
"It was going to be close. In my day I would have enjoyed a tackle like that, but they won't allow them now.
"The referee did well. Did he get the big decisions right? Yes, he did. The tackle for the red card was not good, and the disallowed goal was also the correct decision.
He added: "Our team played well. We do not have any forwards due to injury, and that showed a bit, but it was not for the lack of effort, and at times that is all you can ask.
"Osman has a very sore ankle from the challenge, which will make him a doubt for Boxing Day. And Joseph Yobo looks to have picked up a hamstring injury.
"I felt in the end we deserved more than a draw, we played well enough to take all three points.
"But Chelsea showed why they are such a good team, especially away from home, and they made it difficult for us to get through them."
He added: "They are always a threat when they have players like (Didier) Drogba and (Frank) Lampard around, so even with 10 men they were a threat. We had to make sure we concentrated.
"With them down to 10 men, you always feel you can get something from the game.
"They filled the middle of the park, that made it difficult. From our point of view we did not get to the line enough to really cause them trouble."
