Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that Cardiff City were "breaking the rules" by taking too long to return the ball during Saturday's match between the two sides.

Mourinho was sent to the stands during his side's 4-1 win for complaining about the alleged time wasting to referee Anthony Taylor, who also failed to spot Samuel Eto'o kicking the ball while Cardiff keeper David Marshall was bouncing it in the build up to Eden Hazard's equaliser.

However, the Portuguese manager believes that the fans would be more upset with Cardiff's delaying tactics than they would by the actions of Samuel Eto'o.

"If I was in that game and I was paying my ticket, I would be worried with the fact that every time the ball was out or stopped and our opponent had to put the ball back in the game, it took a median of 21.5 seconds. That is a waste of money," Mourinho told PA.

"When you multiply that by the number of times the game was stopped, you pay for 90 minutes but you see 55 or 60. For me, that's breaking the rules."

Chelsea face Schalke in the Champions League tomorrow night.