Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said that Andre Marriner made a big error in not punishing Ricardo Pereira for his foul on Joao Felix on Saturday.
The Portugal man made a rough tackle on his compatriot in the first half, leaving him on the deck for a few minutes in obvious pain.
However, the official gave nothing more than a foul, whilst VAR didn’t intervene in any way either.
The pain was worse for the Blues when the full-back picked up the assist for Patson Daka’s goal, which levelled proceedings at the time.
Thankfully the decision did not have too much of an impact on the final result. Chelsea picked up their third win in as many games as they beat the Foxes 3-1.
Referee made mistake in Chelsea Leicester
Gallagher has claimed that there should certainly have been more of a punishment for the foul by Pereira.
He said: “I think it should have been more than a free-kick. I think it should be sanctioned. It’s interesting because ‘Does VAR think it’s enough for a red card?’
“Obviously not because they would have sent him off. But if they’d have thought it was borderline red card and had sent him off, the referee retains all options. Would he have gone back to the screen and yellow carded him, so he would have sanctioned him?
“What I’d say is it’s more than a free-kick, we know that. Consistency is only possible for one man in 90 minutes. I think he’s lucky but I think if it was a yellow card people would’ve accepted that. There’s no way it’s a free-kick only.”
Chelsea supporters will have felt hard done by decisions by officials a number of times this season, with the consistency of referees at an all-time low across the league this season.
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