While Marriner made the right decision in the case of the penalty award, the match official's judgement moments later has been the subject of fierce criticism. Thirty yards out from Chelsea's goal, Terry squared an innocuous-looking ball to Cahill who appeared not to be aware of the game around him. Fer raced in and clearly fouled the Blues centre-back when dispossessing him before beating Courtois. Notwithstanding the hysteria that followed Marriner's decision, had Cahill been concentrating he would have been more likely to retain possession and clear the ball. It could also be argued that Terry put his teammate under unnecessary pressure when it might have made more sense to sweep the ball up field.
In his postmatch summary, Conte concluded that in respect of Swansea's first goal, Chelsea must "improve in some situations" and that the second was a "great mistake of the referee's." Cahill was so incensed with Marriner's failure to penalise Fer that he tweeted his frustration, posting a video clip of the incident and the word "incredible" followed by nine angry emojis. The tweet has since been deleted.
Conte has just a few days to "improve" Chelsea before free-scoring Liverpool arrive at Stamford Bridge for a Friday evening Premier League fixture which as things stand looks to have goals written all over it. The Italian has some big defensive decisions to make as he ponders a game plan to contain the Reds' attack that is as lively as his own. His options look likely to be limited by the news that Terry, who turned his ankle in the final minutes of the Swansea game and left the Liberty Stadium on crutches, is a major injury doubt.