Cole Palmer Red Card: Mark Halsey Issues Strong Verdict on Decision

· GiveMeSport

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey delivers strong verdict on Chris Kavanagh’s decision to send Cole Palmer off against Tottenham

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has issued a strong verdict on Chris Kavanagh’s decision to send off Cole Palmer during Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat against Tottenham on Saturday evening.

Palmer was sent off in the 80th minute after receiving two yellow cards in nine minutes.

The England international’s dismissal was a hammer-blow to Chelsea’s hopes of getting back into the match.

Xabi Alonso’s side were 1-0 down at the time following a calamitous 77th-minute own goal by 21-year-old goalkeeper Mike Penders.

Palmer was sent off three minutes later, before Mathys Tel scored a superb solo goal to secure all three points for Spurs at Stamford Bridge.

This was only the second time Tottenham had won in the league at Chelsea’s home ground in 36 years.

Analysing Kavanagh’s decision to show Palmer a red card, Halsey told The Sun : “It all sparked to life in the 70th minute, where we saw [Micky] Van de Ven go charging into a reckless challenge on [Moises] Caicedo. The referee plays a good advantage and then we see [Mateus] Fernandes fall to the ground and deliberately handle the ball, which he was rightly cautioned for.

> “Cole Palmer, bit stupid from him, then adopts an aggressive attitude towards Fernandes while he’s on the floor. Some were asking ‘was it a red card?’ but, for me, a yellow card was the correct outcome because it was him adopting an aggressive attitude towards an opponent.”

Watch the first incident below:

Halsey continued: “Ten minutes later, he was shown a second yellow card by Chris Kavanagh, rightly so, for a late challenge coming down on Conor Gallagher’s ankle.

> “He can have no complaints whatsoever about the second yellow card, and Chris Kavanagh was absolutely spot on to issue that second yellow card.”

Watch the incident that led to the red card below:

Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Alonso told reporters that Palmer must learn from his red card.

> “I haven’t seen them [back] on TV but as far as I have been told probably he [the referee] got it right,” the Spanish coach said, per The Guardian . “We need to have this maturity to deal with difficult moments. When you have conceded for 1-0, still probably it was 15-20 minutes to go.

> “I need to check the action to talk with Cole but it is one to learn for the future for sure.”

Read the original

People in this story

Related