Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte feared Eden Hazard would be seriously injured during the bad-tempered 1-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
N'Golo Kante scored the only goal after Ander Herrera was sent off for two bookable offences for fouls on Hazard.
It seemed the Spain midfielder was carrying out an apparent edict from United boss Jose Mourinho to target the Belgium midfielder.
Conte called for Hazard to receive protection from officials. It is a call Mourinho has made previously, when he was Chelsea manager.
"For Hazard, (for) 20, 25 minutes it was impossible to play football, because he received only kicks," Conte said.