Chelsea handed red card nightmare as referee verdict given

Trevoh Chalobah was shown a straight red card during Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Brighton following VAR intervention.

An Andrey Santos mistake put the Blues defender in an awkward position as the last man with Diego Gomez running through on goal. Chalobah opted to bring him down which saw him sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity after a visit to the pitch side screen.

Confirming the decision, the Premier League Match Centre wrote on X: “#CHEBHA – 50’ VAR OVERTURN After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no foul by Chelsea’s Chalobah.

“Referee announcement: “After review, there was a clear foul by the Chelsea No 23. Therefore, it denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, resulting in a red card and a free-kick. Final decision is a red card to Chelsea No 23.””

Enzo Fernandez had put Chelsea in front but soon after his dismissal, Brighton made the man advantage count with Danny Welbeck grabbing an equaliser.

Looking ahead, thankfully for Enzo Maresca, he will only miss one game, but that is a huge clash at home to Liverpool. With Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Levi Colwill out injured, Chelsea have barely any centre-back options available.

Josh Acheampong was the player introduced to play alongside Jorrel Hato at centre-back, though he is not fully fit having been dealing with illness over the last week. Benoit Badiashile was also on the bench but he has not played since the Club World Cup.

Maresca will be able to call on Chalobah for the Champions League clash against Benfica next Tuesday but he will be unavailable to face the champions at Stamford Bridge. Badiashile will likely be required for that fixture with Tosin still expected to be out.

Having been diagnosed with concussion, Fofana could feature next Sunday assuming he has passed all correct protocols. Tosin, meanwhile, has been ruled out for a number of weeks with a calf injury.

“We have Tosin injured,” he said in a press conference on Friday. “He will probably be out until the international break as he has a small problem with his calf.”

While Maresca has options, it is far from an idea situation especially considering the task that awaits.

The Chelsea boss is also facing major issues at the other end of the pitch with Liam Delap out injured, Joao Pedro plagued by issues and Cole Palmer still being impacted by a groin issue.

“We have decided to protect Cole a little bit, in terms of his injury not getting worse,” he said after Palmer departed the defeat to Manchester United early.

“So, we decided to rest him for the next 2-3 weeks, probably until after the international break, to see whether, with rest, he can recover 100 per cent and be completely fit.’