The first half of Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Leicester today was slightly marred by a shocking moment where Wilfred Ndidi went in for a nasty challenge on Cole Palmer.
The midfielder scissor tackled Palmer and even raked the studs of his right boot down his opposite number’s heel. VAR checked the incident, but decided to go with the referee’s decision that a yellow card was sufficient.
At half time the TNT Sport pundits covering the game on UK TV were unanimous however – it was a clear red. It wasn’t even accidentally dangerous (which would be enough on its own), it was vicious and deliberate. Joe Cole said “he should be off” and the rest of the panel had no arguments.
Maresca picks an odd moment to make a stand
Yet in his press conference just after the game, Palmer’s manager Enzo Maresca surprisingly decided to claim he didn’t think the challenge warranted a red.
“I don’t think the target [of the tackle] is Cole. I said after the Man United game, when there is bad intention, it has to be a different punishment from the referee. I’m not saying Wilf had a bad intention because I love Wilf,” Maresca said.
“It’s not just our players. For me, it’s general. Whenever there is bad intention, the punishment has to be different. Today’s foul? I don’t think so. I saw the clip and I don’t think it is a red, to be honest.”
We’re not sure how much more deliberate you can get, Enzo. He’s lunged in off the ground and frustrated, and caught your best player with a studs up scissor tackle.
Perhaps it’s because Ndidi is one of his old players, and he “loves” him as he himself admits, it still seems like an odd time to take a stand contrary to what most people are saying.
