Enzo Maresca has raised concerns about the inconsistency of officiating in the Premier League following the red card issued to Moisés Caicedo during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday.
Caicedo was shown a red card by referee Anthony Taylor after a VAR review for a late challenge on Mikel Merino, just seven minutes before halftime at Stamford Bridge.
Despite being down to ten men, Trevoh Chalobah scored first in the second half, only for Merino to equalize shortly thereafter.
While Maresca did not dispute Caicedo’s sending off, he argued that Piero Hincapié should have been dismissed for elbowing Chalobah and referred to Rodrigo Bentancur’s yellow card for a late tackle on Reece James during their match against Tottenham on November 1.
James expressed that Hincapié was fortunate not to be sent off, and Maresca, whose Chelsea team has already received seven red cards this season, stated: “Reece is right, but they ask me about Moi’s [Caicedo] red card. It is a red card. But why wasn’t Bentancur’s tackle on Reece a red card away at Spurs?”
“As managers, we struggle to understand why they make different judgments. Moi’s is a red card, yes. Bentancur’s is also a red card, yes. Why were they not given red cards? That’s what we find hard to comprehend.”
“The reality is it is indeed a red card, but why the different judgments? Regarding Trevoh, I asked the referee about it. He told me it wasn’t an elbow. Trevoh had a black eye and was icing it at halftime, but they perceive it in various ways.”
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Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta accused Chelsea of “constantly targeting” his players with fouls to level the playing field after Caicedo’s red card.
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 received a booking just nine minutes after the restart.
“After Caicedo’s dismissal, we aimed to take control of the game,” Arteta said. “However, we failed to do so. We accumulated four yellow cards, indicating that our players were being frequently fouled to balance the game. At halftime, we decided to address this.”