Tottenham star 'should have been sent off' during 4-3 Chelsea defeat - says ex-Premier League referee

Tottenham blew what could have been a famous win against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday afternoon as they fell 4-3 to the Blues, despite being 2-0 up after just 11 minutes.

Dominic Solanke gave his side the lead after five minutes before Dejan Kulusevski made it 2-0 in the 11th. The latter, however, was lucky to stay on the pitch later in the game according to former Premier League referee Keith Hackett.

Kulusevski was seen to elbow Romeo Lavia just before half-time, when running in for a challenge against the Chelsea midfielder. It meant that there were shouts for both teams to receive a red, after Moises Caicedo escaped a sending-off for his challenge on Pape Matar Sarr earlier in the game.

Hackett believed that the Kulusevski challenge was easily a red card. He told TottenhamHotspurNews: “That deliberate elbow by Spurs (shirt number) 21 should have resulted in a red card.”

The former referee deemed the Sweden international’s elbow to be deliberate, a matter which was open for debate during the game.

Kulusevski escapes three-match ban

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou will be delighted that the midfielder didn’t receive a red card as it would have forced him to miss the next three Premier League games.

They currently sit 11th in the league, seven points away from the top four. They next play against bottom-of-the-league Southampton, before two very tough games against league leaders Liverpool and then surprise European candidates Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.

It will be a big boost for Tottenham to still have Kulusevski in the ranks as fellow midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur remains suspended. His comments about teammate Heung-Min Son were deemed to be racist, which resulted in a seven-match ban. He won’t return until the game against Forest on Boxing Day.

Several Spurs players remain out

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario remains out for several months with an ankle injury that he suffered during Tottenham’s impressive 4-0 win against Manchester City in November. Richarlison is also out injured and likely won’t be back over the Christmas period.

Wilson Odobert and Ben Davies are also out and both are being assessed over their current hamstring injuries. Neither are back in training yet. Whereas Mikey Moore is close to a return and could feature in Spurs’ next game against Rangers on Thursday night.