Jonathan Tah was fortunate to escape a red card for his foul on Joao Pedro in the first half of Chelsea’s Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday night
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has furiously claimed Bayern Munich defender Jonathan Tah should have seen red for his off the ball clash with Joao Pedro. The Blues endured a difficult night in Bavaria, suffering a 3-1 defeat in their return to the Champions League.
However, things could have been different had Tah been dismissed as Maresca reckons he should have been. The Italian was left furious when the ex-Bayer Leverkusen defender scythed down Pedro from behind, as Cole Palmer was dribbling the ball on his way to scoring for the west Londoners.
As the England international then wheeled away in celebration, Maresca was getting booked for his protestations after the on-field referee only decided to give Tah a yellow card. Harry Kane, who scored a first half penalty after Trevoh Chalobah’s unfortunate own goal, went on to score Bayern’s third in the second half to secure the victory.
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After the match, during his post match press conference, Maresca was furious Tah was not red carded. He said the official informed him the Bayern defender was not dismissed for an off the ball incident because it was not deemed to be aggressive enough.
The Chelsea boss claimed he responded with a six-word quip, saying: “They need to see your blood?” In full, he said: “For me, it should have been a red card. I always said it’s 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 substituted at the half-time break by Vincent Kompany not long after the incident, also offered his perspective on the contentious moment. Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone, he said: “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.”
While the result will disappoint Maresca, there were still plenty of positives to be taken for his young squad. The biggest of which was Palmer, who proved he belongs at this level.
As well as scoring a fine goal to halve the deficit, he scored another in the 89th minute, although it was marginally ruled out for offside after a VAR check. Speaking about the encounter to TNT Sport, Palmer said: “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.”
Chelsea face struggling Manchester United on the weekend, before travelling to Lincoln City in the League Cup third round. Their next Champions League clash will be on Tuesday, September 30 against Benfica, who will have former Blues’ boss Jose Mourinho in the dugout at Stamford Bridge.
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