Tottenham midfielder Conor Gallagher was arguably lucky to escape without a red card for his sliding tackle on Chelsea’s Dario Essugo just 10 minutes into the friendly clash between the two Premier League sides in Sydney.
The Blues midfielder received the ball in the Spurs’ half, only to have his legs taken out by Gallagher, who came flying in.
Players came from everywhere and congregated around the referee in the fallout to the challenge, which saw Alex King produce the first yellow card of the match.
Things got heated between the two sides, but eventually cooled down so the pre-season match could continue in front of an 80,000 strong crowd at Accor Stadium.
Minutes prior, new Spurs signing Jan Paul van Hecke had given away a free-kick for a careless challenge on Chelsea’s Joao Pedro, with tensions heating up between two rivals in their first meeting outside the UK.
“Here is another little spotfire… I tell you what I wasn’t expecting it to get quite this heated in a friendly, but tensions still simmer regardless of what’s at stake!” said commentator Ben Homer on Paramount+’s coverage.
Andy Harper added: “Gallagher doesn’t think there’s much in it… it’s pretty late.
“He’s completely cleaned up the Portuguese midfielder.
“It’s exactly the type of tackle that is going to have an incendiary effect on those around.
“He walked away pretty dismissive… but you can understand the Chelsea players blowing up.”
Tottenham took the lead only a few minutes later through new recruit Sandro Tonali.
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