Southampton boss Ronald Koeman preferred to congratulate referee Mike Dean rather than criticise him on Sunday.
The match official awarded a contentious penalty to the Saints in the eventual 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge when Nemanja Matic challenged Sadio Mane in the area to be booked.
Replay footage shows that Matic actually made contact with the ball but Dean pointed to the spot to allow Dusan Tadic to step up in the 19th minute and cancel out Diego Costa's opener.
Matic, who was only just returning from a ban, then cut down Mane again later in the first half which could have prompted a second yellow card but Koeman was not asking for that to be the case.
"In my opinion it's a penalty, yes," Koeman said.p> "It's difficult jobs for referees. (Matic on Mane) is a foul that maybe can be a yellow card and that means his second one.
"It's always difficult. I'm not supporting referees showing eight, nine, 10 yellow cards every game.
"In my opinion the referee did a great job today."
