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Leicester City receive new red card referee verdict as brutal VAR point made

Leicester City and Chelsea have been told that VAR was wrong not to convert the yellow card given to Wilfred Ndidi into a red card after his challenge on Cole Palmer during the Foxes' 2-1 defeat to the Blues.

Ndidi was booked after 22 minutes during the match week 12 fixture for a tackle from behind on Palmer. The Nigerian was stretching for the ball and could not get near it, clamping his studs down on the back of the Chelsea man's leg.

VAR decided to stick with the on-field decision of a yellow card instead of overturning Andrew Madley's verdict.

There was a surprising lack of outrage from Blues boss Enzo Maresca, who left Leicester to join the West London club in the summer, his appreciation for his former player Ndidi and the pleasure at winning perhaps overpowering any sense of injustice. When asked whether he thought it was a red after the game, the Italian replied: "I don't think so."

Former Premier League referee Howard Webb, who is now chief refereeing officer at PGMOL, has since given his verdict on Madley and the VAR Paul Tierney's decision.

"From the outset, I want to say I prefer a red card in this situation for a few reasons," Webb revealed on Sky Sports' Ref Watch.

"This is a tackle from behind by Ndidi. The contact is on a pretty vulnerable part of Cole Palmer’s anatomy down by the Achilles.

"The contact initially when it comes in is on the instep as opposed to with the stud. He doesn’t really have a great chance of winning the ball. He makes contact high up on the leg and then slides down. The most forceful contact where the studs really come in is on the heel but, still, there’s a lot of force there.

"When you factor all those things in – the way he comes into the tackle, the mode of contact, where it makes contact – I think this is much more aligned with serious foul play and endangers Cole Palmer’s safety."

VAR came in for much scrutiny from fans and pundits alike in the aftermath of the Leicester defeat, which cost then-manager Steve Cooper his job.

Former Chelsea player Joe Cole was one of those who thought it should have been a red.

"VAR looked at that; the on-field decision was yellow card for a reckless tackle," former official Webb continued.

"VAR felt in the moment when he evaluated this that because that contact came down quite quickly onto the heel, onto the boot, then it didn’t go past the threshold for being a clear and obvious error. We’ve looked at this collectively amongst the officials, talked about this, and we would prefer this to be dealt with a red card. We have to protect players’ safety."

Webb was joined by Ballon d'Or winner Michael Owen on the show who showed his dissatisfaction with the refereeing decision.

"I can’t accept that one," Owen remarked.

"In that situation with Ndidi, that’s dangerous to me and I’m very, very surprised he’s not been given a red card.

"To me as an ex-footballer, that is a damaging tackle."

Should Ndidi have been sent off? Tell us here

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