Ex-Referee and officiating expert Dermot Gallagher has shared his verdict on a potential serious foul play incident during Chelsea's victory at Spurs which went unpunished.
Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea
During one of this season's most entertaining Premier League clashes, Mauricio Pochettino sealed a win on his return to Tottenham in very dramatic fashion.Nicolas Jackson's hat-trick and a Cole Palmer penalty cancelled out Dejan Kulusevski's early goal to gift the Blues a much-needed three points on enemy turf, but the scoreline was only half the story.The 90 minutes gave way to VAR controversy, disallowed goals, injuries, sending offs and a much-discussed bold high line from Tottenham, despite Ange Postecoglou's being down to nine men.
Cristian Romero's reckless two-footed challenge resulted in Palmer's spot-kick and the Argentine's dismissal after a VAR check. There is a real argument to be made that Spurs left-back Destiny Udogie should've been given a straight red before then as well, coming after a two-footed lunge of his own.The Italian was later shown his marching his orders for a second bookable offence, with the absence of both men playing a heavy hand in Chelsea's victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – not to mention injuries to James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, who were both hauled off.
Mauricio Pochettino comments on Chelsea win
Pochettino, speaking after he secured a vital three points upon his return to Spurs, expressed his delight while showing his classier side."I am so happy because the points mean a lot to us," said Pochettino on Chelsea's win over Tottenham (via Sky Sports via The Express)."We are in a situation where we need to win points. I am so happy because we came back and showed to people that we had the positivity. For me the most important thing is the three points. It's Tottenham, but it's not more special because of that."
The Chelsea boss also reserved praise for heavily-criticised summer signing Jackson after his three-goal haul."I think it is about building his confidence. We know when a striker is young and arrives at a club like Chelsea it is massive," said Pochettino on Jackson (via The Metro)."He is so young and came from Spain, different league and he needs to improve. I hope this hat-trick can allow him top play more relaxed and find the confidence he needs."
Dermot Gallagher reacts to Reece James elbow
Amid all of the controversial incidents on Monday evening, one potential bit of serioius foul play which went unpunished was defender Reece James' elbow on Udogie in the second half.
Speaking to Sky Sports, refeering expert Gallagher reacted with his take on the VAR check. When asked if there was anything in it, he said:"I think not, if you look, he's always looking at the ball, he's used his arm to go up almost as a lever to get up, he hasn't thrown it back as a weapon. So I think fair decision." Spurs next take on Wolves on Saturday without a host of key players, but Pochettino will be glad to have James in contention for their battle against league champions Man City.