No one can blame referee Anthony Taylor for missing an incident or two during the febrilePremier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea on Sunday.
The on-pitch official had 22 pumped-up players charging all over the pitch as well as 60,000 feverish fans to deal with. Between three goals in the first 17 minutes, countless defensive blunders and a new pair of boots for Chelsea's Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo's controversial challenge slipped under Taylor's radar.
More surprisingly, Caicedo's crunching connection with the bottom of Pape Sarr's shin, received a seal of approval from the video assistant referee Jarred Gillett.
Marc Cucurella, Jack Stephens, Moises Caicedo
Moises Caicedo started at right-back for Chelsea / Robin Jones/GettyImages
During the contest, the Premier League's official Match Centre X account provided a vague explanation as to why Caicedo stayed on the pitch, posting: "VAR checked for a potential red card following a challenge by Caicedo on Sarr and confirmed the referee's call of no serious foul play."
According to Law 12 in the FA's official handbook, serious foul play is considered a red card offence when a player "lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent".
Sky Sports commentators are afforded the luxury of listening into the radio dialogue between officials. Peter Drury revealed that the VAR concluded that Caicedo's forceful lunge "lacked excessive force".
Caicedo wasn't booked by the on-pitch official and VAR can only recommend red cards, rather than dish out any yellows.
Ultimately, what constitutes "excessive force" is a subjective decision. VAR Gillett agreed with Taylor, but based on the social media reaction, those two crucial individuals were in the minority.
Yes, that should have been a red card for Caicedo after a dangerous challenge on Sarr.
How he ended up not receiving a booking at all for this is beyond me. pic.twitter.com/mMzsEiHlez
— Has the Referee or VAR made a poor decision? (@PoorEPLreferees) December 8, 2024
VAR have absolutely bottled that.
Caicedo gets away with so many horrible tackles... is madness.
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) December 8, 2024
Lads in the VAR room obviously knew it should have been a red for Caicedo but are enjoying the game too much at Stockley Park and didn't want to ruin it, fair play.
— Alfie | HITC Sevens (@HITCSevens) December 8, 2024
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