The PGMOL says Moises Caicedo’s high challenge on Pape Matar Sarr was not ‘serious foul play’.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, the Blues midfielder went into a strong challenge against Spurs man Sarr.
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Replays showed that Caicedo’s foot went above the ankle of his opponent, a type of challenge that has previously been punished with a red card.
Cristiano Romero was sent off for Spurs for a similar tackle on Enzo Fernandez during their 4-1 defeat to Chelsea last season.
However, VAR swiftly checked the incident and did not choose to call Anthony Taylor over to check the monitor.
Shortly after, the Premier League took to their match centre account on X to reveal why Caicedo was not dismissed for his tackle.
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The statement 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.”
Spurs scored two early goals before Chelsea came back to make it 2-1 in an entertaining first half.
Dominic Solanke opened the scoring against his former club with just five minutes played following a slip from Marc Cucurella.
Just moments later, Dejan Kulusevski struck low into the bottom corner as Spurs looked comfortable on home turf.
However, Chelsea reduced the deficit in the 17th minute thanks to an excellent strike from Jadon Sancho.
Caicedo’s tackle on Sarr followed later on in the half, with Kulusevski also seemingly avoiding a card for an apparent elbow on Romeo Lavia.
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Lavia was substituted at the start of the second half, with Malo Gusto coming on as his replacement and swapping with Caicedo at right-back.
Cole Palmer then equalised with a penalty following Yves Bissouma’s late challenge on Caicedo.
Chelsea completed the turnaround on 73 minutes as Fernandez fired in following a stunning run from Palmer.
The Blues then made it 4-2 in the final ten minutes when Palmer scored his second penalty, this time an excellent panenka effort.
