There was VAR controversy in Chelsea’s victory against Tottenham with Moises Caicedo and Dejan Kulusevski lucky to escape red cards.
After Chelsea’s 4-3 triumph over Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has assessed whether both sides were fortunate to not see a sending off.
Both teams may have felt hard done by during the fixture with Moises Caicedo and Dejan Kulusevski involved in possible red card scenarios.
Caicedo made a questionable challenge 33 minutes in on Pape Matar Sarr which could have potentially warranted the red mist.
On the other hand, Spurs escaped a red card for Kulusevski just before half time following an elbow to Romeo Lavia which left the Chelsea midfielder with a mean gash to the head.
Dermot Gallagher didn’t see reason for a red card in Tottenham vs Chelsea
Speaking on SkySports’ Ref Watch, former referee, Gallagher, believed that there wasn’t enough ‘force’ in both incidents for a red card to be shown.
“I think it’s a yellow card (Caicedo’s challenge). If he catches him halfway up the shin with intensity then I think it’s a red, but because his force was more on the pitch then his leg, I think that’s what saved him.
“It lacked intensity (Kulusevski elbow), he didn’t use it as a weapon, he didn’t draw his arm back.
“The question you’d ask is, why’s he got his arm up there? I looked at it and they made it clear there wasn’t enough intensity.”
Moises Caicedo of Chelsea is fouled by Yves Bissouma of Tottenham Hotspur leading to a penalty which is scored by Cole Palmer of Chelsea to make it...
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Jamie Carragher believes Moises Caicedo challenge was ‘obvious’ red card
There is certainly arguments for both challenges, but Caicedo’s incident seemed very brief in terms of a VAR check.
Jamie Carragher spoke to SkySports after Chelsea’s win against Tottenham and doesn’t understand why Caicedo hasn’t received his marching orders.
“For me, it just seemed like the most obvious red card you would see.
“I can hear the VAR and as soon as they cleared it, me and Peter Drury looked at eachother astonished.
“I think he’s a very very lucky boy and I’d imagine that is something (Ange) Postecoglou would look back on after the game.”
Gallagher could ‘understand’ why Carragher thought a red card was deserved but still believed the maximum punishment to be a yellow.
In what was a crucial game for Postecoglou, he may feel as if his fortunes would have changed had Caicedo been sent off.
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