Chelsea were just inches away from their third red card this season following Marcos Alonso’s pair of poor challenges in last Saturday’s clash against Stoke.
The Spanish wing-back had first been deservedly booked for his sliding tackle on Stoke’s Joe Allen. In less than a minute’s time he could’ve been shown another yellow card as he clipped the heels of Mame Diouf due to his inferior pace to get to a loose ball.
However, against the loud shouts from the Stoke stands, match referee Mike Dean decided to let Alonso off with a warning.
The decision to not send off the player was widely discussed after the game. According to former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher Mike Dean did the right call not to send off Alonso for his foul on Diouf.
“I think you can see he’s gone for the ball and because Diouf’s a little bit quicker, he’s caught him.
I think it’s a foul and it’s an opportunity for the referee to come across and bring him in and say: ‘We can understand it’s a foul, we can understand he’s gone for the ball, but that’s it. It’s his final one’
It’s not dangerous either.”
– Dermot Gallagher, Sky (via Football.London)
Chelsea have already seen captain Gary Cahill and Brazilian centre-back David Luiz being sent off in this season’s Premier League. The Englishman has thankfully returned from his suspension, while Luiz will still need to sit through next Sunday’s vital league clash against Manchester City. Luckily, the Brazilian will be available for selection against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening.
