Cole was booked for clattering into Hernandez as the striker shot wide in Manchester United's 3-1 Premier League win over Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Cole should have been sent off but, under FIFA rules, Cole cannot be punished retrospectively because the officials took action to deal with the incident at the time. Referee Phil Dowd elected to consult with his assistant before deeming a yellow card to be a sufficient sanction. Andre Villas-Boas defended Cole over the tackle after the game. "Maybe he wouldn't get sent off if the linesman does his work," said the Chelsea boss. "He would have been less emotionally drained. "I work the other way round. You are trying to say the referee did something wrong. I cannot forget the previous two. "If it was 0-0 maybe Ashley is a little bit more mentally in control of the situation and doesn't do the red card foul that you mention." Villas-Boas is not reading too much in the Old Trafford defeat, stating the league is wide open having seen the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City also fail to win over the weekend. "As I said before, nothing that happened here would mean anything in the Premier League table," he continued. "It is an unexpected league. "Manchester City have the most amazing squad as well, but they didn't win. Arsenal and Liverpool lost. "All of the five contenders are there. Anything can happen. "The most regular is United at the moment but we showed we are up to the level of the champions."
