The Portuguese stopper dived the right way to save Danny Webber’s 17th-minute spot-kick and the home side were made to pay as Lampard struck in the 43rd minute.

Lampard then set up Michael Ballack to head home Chelsea’s second five minutes after the break as the home side’s toil ultimately came to nothing.

Mourinho was unhappy with the penalty award against Didier Drogba for apparently fouling Claude Davis.

“The decision for me was completely wrong,” he told Sky Sports’ Prem Plus. "The referee has a wrong decision but after that the performance it is good to think there was one mistake, that’s it. When the performance is so poor you are not so happy.

“It was a big decision against Chelsea at the beginning of the game. If Hilario doesn’t save it maybe we are in trouble. It was not easy for us but the team fought well. We deserved the victory and could have scored more goals.”

Opposite number Neil Warnock also griped about Martin Atkinson’s decision-making especially the free-kick which led to Lampard’s opener.

“Goals change games and it really would have been nice for once to put a penalty away and put a bit of pressure on them, take the lead and see how they reacted. Unfortunately it was not to be and a goalkeeping error resulted in the first goal.

“I don’t understand the advantage rule. It seems to be one rule for one and one for the other. I’m disappointed with the result but it augurs well. I think we’ve got a fighting chance (of staying up).”