Moises Caicedo avoided a red card against Tottenham due to a lack of “intensity” in his challenge on Pape Matar Sarr.
Chelsea fell 2-0 down with barely 10 minutes on the clock in north London as they made a disastrous start, Marc Cucurella slipping in the build-up to both of the goals.
But Enzo Maresca’s side responded superbly and beat their rivals 4-3, leaving them second in the Premier League table and four points behind Liverpool.
However, it could have been very different had Chelsea been reduced to ten men in the first-half, when Caicedo went in late on Spurs midfielder Sarr.
Caicedo caught Sarr above the ankle and co-commentator Jamie Carragher suggested it was “the most obvious red card you’ll see”.
However, after a brief VAR check, played was waved on and Caicedo avoided even a yellow card, with former referee Dermot Gallagher explaining why the midfielder was not sent off.
“I can understand why he thinks it’s red,” Gallagher said of Carragher’s opinion.
"For me it just seemed like the most obvious red card you would see" @Carra23 was shocked Caicedo wasn't sent off for this challenge 🟥 pic.twitter.com/ouQjvNajZv
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 8, 2024
“I think it’s a yellow card. I think he goes down and puts his foot into the ground. He doesn’t go through him, I think that’s what saves him.
“If he catches him halfway up the shin with that intensity, I think he’s going to get a red card. But because his force was more on the pitch than on his leg, I think that’s what saved him.”
It was put to Gallagher that Cristian Romero had seen red for a similar challenge in the same fixture last season.
He responded: “The difference was [Romero] did plant into the shin.
“He did go through him. If [Caicedo] does go through him, without a doubt he’s going to get a red card. That’s what last season’s was like.”
Tottenham themselves risked going to 10 men just before half-time, when Dejan Kulusevski caught Romeo Lavia with an elbow as he pressed to close down the Chelsea midfielder.
Lavia posted a picture on social media after the match showing a cut on his head, but Gallagher confirmed that a focus on the “intensity” of the contact from Kulusevski was why he also stayed on the pitch.
“I looked at it, listened to what the VAR said,” Gallagher said.
“That’s what he said - he doesn’t draw his arm back, he doesn’t use it as a weapon. It is there, but it hasn’t got the intensity, the buzzword now. That was their reasoning.”
