Debate: did Terry deserve to be sent off? | Debate: should the FA carpet Alex for stamp on Cahill?

Luiz Felipe Scolari showed the first signs of feeling the strain as he attempts to sustain Chelsea’s title challenge by leaving Goodison Park in silence last night after a goalless draw against Everton kept them a point behind Liverpool at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

The Chelsea manager refused to talk in the wake of a match that Chelsea came close to losing after John Terry’s first-half sending-off, a club official revealing that Scolari had chosen to stay quiet for fear of getting into trouble with the Football Association. “There were a number of issues with a number of decisions during the game and we feel we’d rather say nothing than risk getting into trouble,” the official said.

Scolari was more candid away from the cameras, angrily pursuing Phil Dowd, the referee, down the tunnel at half-time and repeatedly asking him, “Are you afraid? Are you afraid?” It was unclear which other decisions had subsequently annoyed him. Dowd correctly disallowed a late goal by Steven Pienaar, the Everton midfield player, for offside, while the bookings collected for dissent by Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack, Terry’s team-mates, seemed justified.

Chelsea’s disciplinary problems could yet get worse as television pictures appeared to show Alex, their Brazilian defender, stamping on Tim Cahill midway through the second half. The FA may investigate.

Chelsea fulfilled their commercial obligations to the broadcaster by sending Petr Cech to speak to Setanta. The goalkeeper offered a sympathetic defence of Dowd and conceded that Chelsea’s run of one win from their past five league matches was causing concern.

“It’s hard for the referee to see what happened,” Cech said of Terry’s dismissal after the Chelsea captain had been shown a straight red card for a high and late challenge on Leon Osman. “He has a split second, he has to come from behind and there’s noise from the crowd. He made the decision and we have to accept it.

“It’s a tough place to come with 11 men and we had 10, so we have to be satisfied with a point. It’s a pity as we had a chance to go to the top.”

David Moyes, the Everton manager, also defended the referee and claimed that his side should have taken all three points. “It’s easy for me to say I didn’t see the sending-off, but from where I was on the touchline his foot left the ground,” Moyes said. “The ruling is that if you lose control you’re in trouble and from where I was it was a reckless challenge. In my day I would have enjoyed a tackle like that, but times have changed.

“As for the other one [the disallowed goal] I thought the referee and linesman got it right. The referee, from what I saw, got the big decisions right. We deserved more from the game. We played well enough to get three points. It’s an opportunity missed.”

Terry has already had one red card overturned this season after his sending-off for a rugby tackle on Jô, the Manchester City striker, at the City of Manchester Stadium on September 13, but any appeal is unlikely to be successful on this occasion.

Although out of character, the England captain’s challenge was reckless and means he will be suspended for the Premier League matches against West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, and the FA Cup third-round tie against Southend United.