Enzo Maresca has admitted that Jonathan Tah should have been sent off for a collision with Joao Pedro in the first half of Chelsea’s Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
Cole Palmer scored on his first start in nearly one month after coming off the bench this past weekend and grabbing a goal against Brentford. However, his effort did not impact the final result, with Harry Kane netting a brace after a Trevoh Chalobah own goal.
Palmer, who was comfortably Chelsea’s best performer on the night, looked to have set up a nervy end to the match when he scored in the final minute of normal time, but his strike was disallowed for offside following a VAR review.
When discussing the clash to TNT Sport, Palmer brutally admitted: “Yeah [frustrating]. We deserved more. We started well, had early chances but when you make mistakes at the highest level it’s difficult.
“There was a lack of concentration, not managing the moments correctly.
“We showed we can play against one of the best teams in the competition. We deserved more, to be honest. The manager said to us that we can go toe-to-toe.
“It’s a good learning curve, and to be back in the competition is nice. I don’t even know [what happened in the second half]. We’re not coming here to be a learning curve. We showed we want to compete.”
The first half was filled with major talking points and goals, with a penalty awarded but a red card not given. In the lead-up to Palmer’s goal, Pedro was taken out by Tah, and it appeared as though his right arm swung round in a rather forceful motion to stop the Chelsea man joining the attack.
The referee played an advantage, but later came back to book Tah. Unsurprisingly, there were calls for that to be upgraded, with Maresca booked for his protestations. In his post-match press conference, the Chelsea boss gave a clear verdict when asked for his thoughts.
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Speaking on the incident, he said, “For me, it should have been a red card, because there is not… I always said it was a red card when there is no intention to go for the ball, just when the intention is to kick another player. Why is it not a red card?
“The referee said it was not hard or aggressive enough. In any case, you try. So, to give you a red card, they need to see your blood or something. If the intention is to go there, it’s a red card. So for me, there is no doubt.”
Tah, who was taken off at half-time by Vincent Kompany, also provided his thoughts on the controversial talking point with the Germany international explaining why he was not dismissed.
“If I had hit him [Pedro] in the face, then yes. But no [I didn’t]. I can understand the yellow card; it was the right decision,” he admitted when speaking in the mixed zone.
