BBC interview with Villas Boas wrote:"If it was 0-0 maybe Ashley is a little bit more mentally in control of the situation and doesn't do the red card foul that you mention," he said.
So - 1) It should have been a red card, even his own manager is in no doubt of that - and 2) The Chelsea manager thinks that refs should make allowances for players being in a losing position and accept that when you are down, you are allowed to lose control mentally and commit red card fouls?
I am going to assume that this quote is the result of a language anomaly and that Villas-Boas didn't mean what he actually said. I hope that's the case anyway, I quite like him.