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

Enzo Maresca has expressed his concern 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 hard 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 match 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. He also 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 asked about Moi [Caicedo]’s red card. It’s a red card. But, why isn’t Bentancur’s tackle on Reece a red card [against] Tottenham 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

Maresca added:

The reality is that it’s a red card. But why do they judge in different ways? And about Trevoh, I asked the referee. He told me it wasn’t an elbow. He had a black eye, he was icing it at halftime, but they judge in different ways.

Enzo Maresca

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Mikel Merino brands Caicedo red card challenge ‘horrible’

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta accused Chelsea of “constantly targeting” his players with yellow cards in an attempt to balance the match 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 game,” Arteta said. “We didn’t make 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 ‘Okay, let’s stop it now'”.