Everton manager Roberto Martinez has accused Chelsea of "trying to influence the referee" in the wake of Jose Mourinho's assertion his side were hard done by against Burnley on Saturday.
Chelsea boss Mourinho highlighted "four moments" during the Blues' 1-1 draw at home to Burnley that allowed Manchester City to reduce the lead at the summit to five points.
Mourinho was particularly angered by a challenge from Ashley Barnes on Nemanja Matic, which saw the Serbian sent off as he reacted by pushing over his opponent, and the Portuguese later branded the tackle "criminal."
Writing in his programme notes ahead of Everton's 2-2 draw with Leicester on Sunday, Martinez reflected on his team's 1-0 loss at Chelsea earlier this month that saw Gareth Barry sent off before a late winner for the home side.
"Unfortunately, the sending off really late on reflected the emphasis that the home team had in trying to influence the referee and take advantage of their role of playing at Stamford Bridge," Martinez wrote, according to The Times.
"Mo Besic being booked after five minutes was a very loose way to referee a game and there was no need to show as many yellow cards as there were. But, more importantly, I never felt there was any consistency in judging every action equally between the two teams.
"That made it a tougher way to digest a defeat that we didn't deserve and showed a very similar ending to last season's game at Stamford Bridge.
"Big games need strong referees but, for the future, we relish the challenge of finding the way of overcoming these disadvantages by playing our football in a typical Everton manner."
Meanwhile, Michael Kightly has defended Burnley teammate Barnes following the criticism he has received for the challenge on Matic that led to the midfielder's reaction.
Kightly said in the Daily Mirror: "Their players were saying to me he had been doing it the whole game but Ash is not a nasty person. He competes. If you can't compete what can you do.
"It's a part of his game that he is very good at. He gets hold of the ball and he's effective but he's not a dirty player in any way.
"For me I didn't see anything wrong but obviously from their point of view, they'll be disappointed that he [Matic] reacted like that."