Mike Dean, the video assistant referee of the Chelsea vs Tottenham Premier League game, has acknowledged that in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea, Cristian Romero should have been sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair.
Dean, the Stamford Bridge game’s VAR, decided against imposing any penalties for the offense. Instead, he allowed the game to go on in favor of Tottenham.
In stoppage time, Harry Kane scored an equalizer with a header from the ensuing corner which left Chelsea’s coaching crew and the club’s fans furious.
“No referee wants to be driving home from a game knowing they should have made a different call,” Mike Dean wrote in his Daily Mail column.
“You may realize your actions could have been different in retrospect.
“I urged the referee, Anthony Taylor, to hold off on the second Harry Kane goal while I investigated the collision between Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Tottenham’s Cristian Romero.
“As VAR, I was unable to award Taylor a free kick, but I could suggest that he go to the referee review area to mull over a potential red card.
“I didn’t think Romero’s tugging on Marc Cucurella’s hair was violent during the brief time I had to observe it.
“After seeing the video again and consulting with other officials, I realized that I ought to have asked Taylor to go to his pitch-side monitor and have a look for himself.
“The field referee always has the last say.
“It just goes to show that no matter how experienced you are, and I’ve worked as a Premier League referee for more than 20 years, you are always learning.
“I find it upsetting because this was the one mistake over a fantastic weekend for our officials.”
Conte and Tuchel, who had already been cautioned for a physical incident following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s first equalizer for Spurs in the 68th minute, came to blows after Kane headed a subpar goal for Spurs in the 96th minute.
When this typically heated derby on a sweltering hot day in the capital spilled over, the managers had to be separated before they were given red cards.
Reece James who raced past the despondent Italian coach, Antonio Conte, and down the touchline to celebrate with the Chelsea supporters restored the hosts’ advantage after Conte’s boisterous celebration outside of his technical area infuriated coach Thomas Tuchel of Chelsea.
The Chelsea manager retaliated when Reece James restored the hosts’ lead by sprinting off his area to celebrate the lead.
Unfortunately, Chelsea’s hearts were broken with an equalizer in the 96th minute, but that was not the end of it.
Naturally, there was no friendly handshake after the game, and both managers were dismissed at the end.
After two Premier League games, the outcome leaves each team with four points.
In addition, both teams will be without their managers for a while, as a result of their touchline suspensions for their violent conduct at the end of the London derby.
