The Premier League have released a statement explaining why Chelsea star Moises Caicedo avoided a red card after his late challenge against Tottenham on Sunday.
The Ecuadorian lunged into a 50-50 duel with Pape Matar Sarr and arrived late, appearing to catch the Spurs midfielder high on his shin with his studs.
VAR briefly reviewed the incident and, according to Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury, the challenge was not deemed to have ‘excessive force’.
The Premier League‘s match centre account on X released a statement to confirm why the 23-year-old was not dismissed.
It read: “VAR checked for a potential red card following a challenge by Caicedo on Sarr and confirmed the referee’s call of no serious foul play.”
As a result, the brief check passed without any further punishment for Caicedo – leaving Carragher confused and in apparent disbelief.
Upon seeing the replay, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was adamant that the £115million star should receive his marching orders, despite referee Anthony Taylor waving play on.
“What? Am I missing something there?” the Liverpool icon said, before Drury explained that VAR adjudged the challenge “lacked excessive force.”
Carragher then replied: “I mean that is unbelievable. I don’t like seeing people sent off, but I was certain that was going to be a red card. They’ve got away with a huge one there Chelsea.”
There was more controversy to come as Dejan Kulusevski caught Romeo Lavia with a stray arm when challenging the Belgian, leaving the 20-year-old in a heap on the ground. But after a brief VAR check, play was allowed to continue.
Those two flashpoints only told part of the story of a breathless 45 minutes in north London as the capital derby delivered another feisty contest.
Two slips from Marc Cucurella inside the first 10 minutes proved costly as Dominic Solanke scored against his former club, before Kulusevski doubled the damage.
Enzo Maresca‘s side fought back through Jadon Sancho as the winger embarked on a solo run and finished from 20 yards. Cole Palmer had two golden chances to equalise but fluffed his lines in front of goal as Spurs led 2-1 at the break.