Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League by five points on Sunday after beating Manchester United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

John Terry headed in 頭球入網(wǎng) the only goal from a free kick after Darren Fletcher was judged to have fouled Chelsea player Joe Cole.

Predictably 不出所料 Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was quick to question the referee’s decision to penalise 懲罰 his team.

Sir Alex described the free-kick decision as "absolutely ridiculous 荒唐的", adding that decisions like that caused him to "lose faith in refereeing".

To lose faith in something means to no longer believe that it is right or good.

Ferguson’s criticism of the officials’ decisions came as a return to his usual confrontational stance 對抗的立場 toward referees, having memorably apologised to a referee only weeks before.

Despite complaining about the "goal that should never have been allowed", Ferguson admitted that his players had to shoulder the responsibility 承擔(dān)責(zé)任 for not scoring goals of their own.

"We've had great chances to win the match and not taken them - and that's our fault," said Ferguson.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was keeping his cards close to his chest 好牌不露/不露聲色的 with regards to his team’s chances of winning the title this year.

"Today was a little step [towards the title] but it’s a long season," said Ancelotti.

At the other end of the Premier League the under-fire 受到抨擊的 manager of Hull City may have saved his job by overseeing his team’s 2-1 win over Stoke.

Phil Brown’s men clawed their way out of 掙扎出來 the relegation zone 降級區(qū) on Sunday, but unusually their manager didn’t attend the post-match press conference 賽后新聞發(fā)布會.

Assistant manager Brian Horton explained Brown’s absence.

"He's having a Guinness 健力士黑啤酒 - he deserves one. He does like the spotlight - there's nothing wrong with that - but he's chosen not to," said Horton.

To like the spotlight 關(guān)注焦點(diǎn) means to enjoy being the centre of attention.

But this time it seems that Phil Brown was happy just to enjoy the rare feeling of victory.