VAR Mike Dean has admitted he was WRONG not to urge referee Anthony Taylor to go to the pitchside monitor after Cristian Romero’s hair pull on Marc Cucurella.
Harry Kane’s stoppage-time equaliser handed Tottenham a 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
But in the lead-up to the dramatic late goal, Spurs centre-back Romero could be seen yanking back Cucurella’s frizzy hair – an action which the rules deem to be a red card offence.
Yet Dean, who hung up the whistle last season but remains an experienced pair of eyes in the VAR room, did not deem it to be violent conduct after reviewing the incident.
He told ref Taylor to play on and Kane subsequently headed in to salvage a point for the visitors.
And Dean has now conceded that it was his error which saw Romero go unpunished.
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Speaking in his column for The Mail, he said: “In the few seconds I had to study Romero pulling Cucurella’s hair, I didn’t deem it a violent act.
“I’ve since studied the footage, spoken to other referees and, upon reflection, I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitch-side monitor to take a look for himself.
“The referee on field always has the final say.”
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was left raging after referee Taylor’s performance.
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And he even suggested Blues matches should no longer be officiated by the 43-year-old Mancunian.
In his post-match press conference, a raging Tuchel was asked whether he agrees with Chelsea fans who do not want Taylor involved in their games.
To which he said: “I don’t think that just some of the fans think that. I can assure you that the whole dressing room of us, every person thinks that.
“Not only the fans. You know the players, they know what’s going on when they are on the pitch. They know it.”
And he repeated the suggestion that his squad doubt Taylor by saying: “Yeah, of course.”
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An investigation has subsequently been opened into Tuchel’s comments.
Chelsea return to action on Sunday when they travel to Leeds, one day after Spurs host Wolves in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
