Dermot Gallagher’s red card and penalty verdicts after Chelsea vs Newcastle United controversies

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on the controversial incidents during Chelsea’s win over Newcastle United.

Amid a sea of adversity off the pitch, the Blues managed to come up with the goods, taking all three points thanks to a late Kai Havertz winner.

The win puts Chelsea another step further towards Champions League football, and it now looks just a matter of time before a top four finish is guaranteed.

But the result did not come without controversy, with Thomas Tuchel’s men appearing to ride their luck, at times, against a much-improved Newcastle side.

There were two controversial incidents, in particular, and the first saw eventual goalscorer Havertz dodge a red card after catching Dan Burns with his elbow.

However, speaking during Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Gallagher agreed with referee David Coote, telling Sky Sports: “I agree [it was a yellow, not red] for a number of reasons.

“If you look at it, both players’ arms are up, Dan Burn’s arms are up as well.

“They are both challenging for the ball, going towards each other. There is inevitably going to be a collision, there is no doubt abut that.

“I think the key for me, is what I was being taught as a referee, if somebody throws an elbow in malice they are going to clench their fist, they are going to force impact. If you look at Kai Havertz, he never clenched his fist.

“It is almost the flailing arm if you like, it does catch him. I think it is a yellow card. I didn’t think it was a foul that was that bad.

“I think it’s a foul, it is a reckless challenge…but it is not a brutal challenge, it is not a malicious challenge. It is not what I would call serious foul play, he hasn’t thrown the elbow as a weapon.”

Perhaps the biggest controversy of the clash was a debatable penalty decision which saw Trevoh Chalobah bring down Jacob Murphy in the box.

Coote decided not to award a penalty, and VAR agreed, but like many watching on, Gallagher did not concur with the decision.

“Penalty,” he said, bluntly, adding: “Grabs his shirt, trips him, shoves him. I also think that there is a caveat for the VAR to send it.

“Their feeling was, that was fed back, was that they didn’t feel that the fall was commensurate with what happened on the field. Well I think that is probably because they looked at the upper body, rather than lower body.

“The referee gives a corner, Chalobah doesn’t play the ball, should have been a goal kick or a penalty.

“So with the referee giving a corner, he is telling everybody, ‘I think Chalobah has played the ball’, so therefore I feel the VAR could have said to the referee, ‘Well, he didn’t play the ball, you might want to go and have a look at this’.

“And if he had gone and had a look and seen what we have seen, he would have given a penalty.”