Why was Hakim Ziyech's red card overturned as Stuart Attwell causes chaos in Tottenham vs. Chelsea?
Following a foul by Hakim Ziyech on Ricarlison, which sparked a melee and some contentious use of VAR, Tottenham's Premier League game against Chelsea erupted.
VAR overturned a red card for Hakim Ziyech after an utterly bizarre incident in the closing stages of Tottenham vs. Chelsea.
With a poor challenge, Ziyech brought down Richarlison, sparking a melee when the Brazilian reacted by pushing the Chelsea winger. Ziyech appeared to escape punishment at first, with referee Stuart Attwell issuing yellow cards to Kai Havertz and Emerson Royal for their roles in the pushing and shoving.
Before making his decisions, Attwell conferred with his assistant, Darren Cann, on the sidelines. But, after hearing from VAR Paul Tierney through his earpiece, Attwell showed Ziyech a straight red card for clearly putting his hand in the face of Royal - an incident that Attwell appeared to have witnessed.
Ziyech walked towards the half way line stepped down to his fate before stopping as a VAR check came up on the big screen inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Attwell was called over to the monitor, and after viewing a few replays, he changed the red card to a yellow.
The decision was greeted angrily by the Tottenham fans and coaching staff, with the assistant ref having received an earful. As the teams went in at 0-0, Spurs captain Harry Kane was seen conversing with Attwell at halftime.
"He was considering pushing him away in the shoulder and then slipped to his face. The referee used common sense. However, it was a very fortunate decision."
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith was perplexed by the decision-making process, but believed the correct decision was reached in the end.
"He's already made the decision, so why is he going to the monitor?" he asked during co-commentary. "And now that he has withdrawn it, I believe it was the correct decision in the end."
The red card did come after a first half full of incidents, albeit few involving edge of the box action. After collapsing in the box as a result of a challenge from Oliver Skipp, Raheem Sterling had a penalty appeal turned down.
After an apparent elbow by Thiago Silva, Cristian Romero collapsed holding his face. Silva was later forced off the field with an injury after Kane landed on him in the box.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg came closest to breaking the tie when his shot was deflected off Wesley Fofana and struck the inside of the post.
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