Maresca criticizes refereeing in Chelsea vs Arsenal: Lack of judgment?

Enzo Maresca has expressed doubts about the consistency in Premier League refereeing, following Moisés Caicedo’s sending-off in the 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Arsenal. Caicedo was shown a red card for a harsh tackle on Mikel Merino, after a VAR review, seven minutes before halftime at Stamford Bridge. Despite playing with ten men, Trevoh Chalobah put Chelsea ahead in the 48th minute, before Merino equalized the score near the hour mark.

Although Maresca did not question Caicedo’s expulsion, the Chelsea coach believes that Piero Hincapié should also have been sent off for an elbow on Chalobah. In addition, he mentioned the yellow card shown to Rodrigo Bentancur for a late tackle on Reece James in the victory against Tottenham on November 1st.

I think Reece is right, but… I’m being asked about Moi [Caicedo]’s red card. It’s a red card. But, why isn’t Bentancur on Reece a red card [against] Spurs away from home?

Enzo Maresca

Maresca continued:

So, we, as coaches, struggle to understand why they judge in different ways. Moi is a red card, yes. Bentancur is a red card, yes. Why don’t they give them a red card? It’s just that we find it hard to understand.

Enzo Maresca

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta accused Chelsea of “constantly targeting” his players with yellow cards to balance the game after Caicedo’s sending off. Arsenal had four players cautioned in the first half: Martín Zubimendi, Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori, and Hincapié. Arteta substituted Calafiori at halftime for Myles Lewis-Skelly, who was cautioned nine minutes after the restart. “After Caicedo’s expulsion, we wanted to settle the match,” Arteta said. “We didn’t manage to do it. We had four yellow cards. Obviously, those players were constantly targeted to try to even the game in terms of numbers. At halftime, we said ‘OK, let’s pause it now'”