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Tottenham vs Chelsea: Sky presenter shares what VAR told the referee during Ziyech incident
Sky Sports presenter Kelly Cates has now shared what the VAR officials were telling the referee Stuart Attwell during the Hakim Ziyech incident against Tottenham Hotspur today.
It was a pretty dull first-half in north London today as both Tottenham and Chelsea cancelled each other out.
But things did begin to liven up at the end of the first-half, especially after Ziyech thought he had been sent-off after lashing out on Emerson Royal.
The Moroccan winger was initially involved in a confrontation with Richarlison after making a late challenge on the Brazilian.
Royal came over to intervene and shoved Ziyech in the back. The Chelsea winger was far from impressed and appeared to push Royal in the face.
He was eventually sent off by Attwell after a lengthy chat with his assistant. But the referee then reviewed the incident and rescinded the red card.
And after a confusing sequence of events at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Kelly Cates has tried to make sense of the situation.
Cates shares what VAR told the referee during Ziyech incident
Speaking on ’ coverage of the game, Cates shared what VAR told Attwell during the incident.
“Let’s start trying to make sense of what happened towards the end of that first 45 minutes. This is the incident in which Havertz is booked for the initial challenge, Ziyech then gets involved. A lot of the other players get involved and Royal is also booked,” Cates said.
“However, there is an incident involving Hakim Ziyech. They see Royal’s face being pushed and you can see Royal’s head moving.
“That’s what the on-field referee Stuart Atwell has seen when the players all gather around him. He goes to his assistant, they’ve seen Royal’s been pushed in the face but they haven’t seen who’s done it. The VAR, Paul Tierney, and his assistants say it was Ziyech. The referee on the field, Stuart Atwell, has to then make a decision one way or the other, so he gives a red card to Ziyech.
“Then he can go over to the monitor once the decision has been made and then he makes a decision on whether or not it’s a red card. At the end of all of that, Royal and Havertz have been booked. Ziyech is given a red card, that red card is then rescinded.”
It was certainly a confusing sequence of events and Spurs will have thought that they would be playing against 10-men after Attwell showed the red card.
But it seems that the referee had to show the card in order to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Spurs built on a positive end to the half and got off to a flyer in the second as Oliver Skipp netted with a brilliant long-range effort.
Harry Kane wrapped up a crucial three points for Spurs as he popped up at the back post after Eric Dier’s header from a Son Heung-Min corner. Tottenham have now won back-to-back London derbies after also beating West Ham 2-0 last weekend and have strengthened their position in the hunt for a top-four finish.