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Tottenham's Cristian Romero Sent Off Against Chelsea On Busy Night For VAR

Originally posted on FanNation Futbol
By Robert Summerscales | Last updated 11/6/23

Cristian Romero was sent off for the fourth time in his Tottenham career during a hectic first half in Monday's Premier League clash with Chelsea.

The Spurs vice-captain was shown a straight red card in the 33rd minute for a dangerous tackle on Enzo Fernandez.

Romero made a clean contact with the ball but his follow-through was high and caught Fernandez's left ankle with his studs.

The penalty was not initially awarded by on-field referee Michael Oliver. Romero's red card and Chelsea's spot-kick were the result of a mammoth VAR review.

Moises Caicedo had the ball in Tottenham's net moments after Romero's reckless challenge. But that goal was disallowed for an offside call against Nicolas Jackson.

Once the goal had been ruled out, a penalty check took place, followed by one for series foul play. Both rulings went against Romero.

Spurs had been 1-0 up at this point thanks to a sixth-minute strike by Dejan Kulusevski.

But Cole Palmer converted Chelsea's penalty - despite Guglielmo Vicario getting two hands on the ball - to make it 1-1.

After Chelsea had a goal from Moises Caicedo disallowed due to offside, Cristian Romero was given a red card following a challenge on Enzo Fernandez.

Chelsea were given a penalty and Tottenham went down to 10 men. #TOTCHE pic.twitter.com/sOzTrxgBzm
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 6, 2023

"AMID FRENZY AND FURY!"

Cole Palmer levels for Chelsea as Cristian Romero sees red! pic.twitter.com/1oULwk1uOP
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2023

It had already been a busy night for the VAR team. Destiny Udogie had earlier survived a check for a possible red card after a two-footed challenge on Raheem Sterling, who then had a goal disallowed for handball.

That came after Son Heung-min had been denied a goal by a narrow offside call.

After losing Romero to ill discipline, Spurs then lost his central defensive partner to injury when Micky van de Ven left the field in first-half added time after tearing his hamstring.

James Maddison also left the field at this point with what looked like a similar injury.

Van de Ven and Maddison were replaced by Emerson Royal and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Brennan Johnson had earlier made way for Eric Dier following Romero's red card.

The first half eventually ended in the 58th minute following one final VAR check. This one saw Reece James escape a red card after being investigated for an apparent elbow on Udogie.

This article first appeared on FanNation Futbol and was syndicated with permission.

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