News

‘I think’: Dermot Gallagher shares whether Malo Gusto should actually have been sent off vs Villa

Add as preferred source on Google

Former referee Dermot Gallagher thinks Jarred Gillett was right to send off Malo Gusto in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa yesterday.

Gillett initially showed Malo Gusto a yellow card but changed it to a red after a VAR review, a decision Gallagher agreed with.

Speaking on Sky Sports News earlier today and as relayed by Football Daily, the retired referee said: “I think it’s a red card. I thought it was a red card when I first saw it.

“I think he’s jumped in, he’s caught him with his studs. You have a duty of care to your opponent and you can’t leave your studs planted on somebody’s ankle.”

Chelsea FC v Aston Villa - Premier League
Photo by Dylan Hepworth/MB Media/Getty Images

Villa made Chelsea pay, with Ollie Watkins managing to score after Gusto’s dismissal. Had the right-back not seen red, Mauricio Pochettino’s men probably would have earned at least a point.

Their loss against the Villans has left them 14th in the Premier League table.

Chelsea cannot afford to keep making these mistakes

At a time where Chelsea are struggling to score goals, players getting sent off and picking up match bans is going to make life so much more difficult for Pochettino.

It is really not what the Argentine needs right now. At the end of the day, though, he has quite a young and inexperienced team and anyone can make a bad tackle like what Gusto did.

Chelsea FC v Aston Villa - Premier League
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images

With that in mind, you can see similar happening again on occasions in the near future. By then, hopefully the club have become an outfit who are capable of scoring goals.

Had Chelsea taken some of their chances before Gusto was sent off against Villa, they could have actually won the game.

Unfortunately, at this moment in time, the Blues are just not able to find the back of the net, which is their ultimate issue.