Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, coach Rui Faria and midfielder Ramires could all face action from The Football Association after respective incidents during and after the Premier League defeat to Sunderland.

Mourinho took a thinly veiled swipe at referee Mike Dean for a performance during which he awarded the Black Cats a late penalty which saw Fabio Borini convert to inflict upon the Portuguese boss his first ever home defeat in English football's top flight.

The decision incensed assistant coach Rui Faria who confronted Dean before being physically restrained by Chelsea staff and led from the touchline upon being sent to the stands.

Furthermore, Mourinho gave a seemingly sarcastic appraisal of the job done by Professional Game Match Officials Limited general manager Mike Riley in his post-match press conference and The FA are likely to investigate the nature of the comments.

And amid a defeat which leaves Chelsea two points behind leaders Liverpool prior to the Reds' visit to Norwich City where they can put one hand on the Premier League title ahead of the pair's meeting at Anfield next week, Ramires was seen to strike Sunderland's Seb Larsson, an incident missed by referee Dean.

The FA are at liberty to take action on incidents not seen by the referee during a game and though they will wait Dean's report and account of the coming together, his protestations caught by television cameras upon Larsson's complaint suggests the official had no view of the episode.

Ramires faces a minimum three-game ban if found guilty of violent conduct and will miss the remainder of Chelsea's Premier League campaign against Liverpool, Norwich City and Cardiff City.

Since being hit with an FA fine for entering the field of play during the defeat to Aston Villa in March, Mourinho has skipped several pre and post-match press conferences but could be in hot water after questioning the performance of Dean and governance of PGMOL chief Riley

"In four quick points I can say everything I want to say, I won't waste time because every question you ask me I will answer in exactly the same way, so we'll stick with four quick points," said Mourinho on Saturday.

"The first point is to congratulate my players, they did everything they could. They fought, they played from the first to the last second and they deserve that [praise]. Sometimes we praise them when we win but I think it's fair to praise my players after a defeat.

"Secondly, congratulations to Sunderland. It doesn't matter how or why, or in which way, they won, but they won. It was three fantastic points for them so I think it's fair to congratulate them.

"The third point is I want to congratulate [referee] Mike Dean. I think his performance was unbelievable and when referees have unbelievable performances I think it's fair, as managers, we give them this. It was a fantastic performance, he came here with one objective, the objective to make a fantastic performance, and he did that.

"The fourth point, I think it's also fair to congratulate Mike Riley, because he's the referees' boss, and what they are doing during the whole season is fantastic, especially in the last couple of months, and especially in the games which have involved teams in the title race. It's absolutely fantastic and I also congratulate him."

Jose Mourinho