Mike Dean Says Morgan Rogers Should Have Been Sent Off Against Everton

• Former Premier League referee Mike Dean said Chelsea forward Morgan Rogers should have been sent off for a first-half challenge on Everton’s James Garner.
• Rogers was already on a yellow card when his studs caught the inside of Garner’s knee, and VAR checked and upheld the on-field decision.
• Everton boss David Moyes said the Rogers tackle “could have been questioned” and that he did not think a booking for Harrison Armstrong was refereed correctly.

Dean Called It a Straight Red Straight Away

Mike Dean has no doubt about the biggest decision of Chelsea’s win at Everton. The former Premier League referee told Soccer Saturday that Morgan Rogers should have been sent off before half-time.

“I think it’s a minimum yellow, but I called red straight away,” Dean said. “He catches him with his studs just on the inside of Garner’s knee, and I think it’s a straight red, I really do. It’s not a good tackle.”

Rogers was already on a yellow card when the challenge came in the 42nd minute. Everton’s James Garner was incensed by the lack of action from the officials. VAR checked the incident and upheld the on-field decision, so Rogers stayed on the pitch.

A Feisty First Half at the Hill Dickinson Stadium

Referee Paul Tierney had already shown five yellow cards by that point, the first time that had happened in a Premier League game from February onwards. Rogers went into the book in the 34th minute, when he clashed with Everton captain James Tarkowski. Tarkowski had just been booked for barging Moises Caicedo off the ball.

Rogers then caught Garner just before the break. Pedro Neto scored 43 seconds after the restart and added a second in the 90th minute. The win handed Everton their first defeat of the Premier League season and gave Chelsea their first league clean sheet in nine months.

Moyes Questions the Refereeing

Everton manager David Moyes felt his side were on the wrong end of several calls. Speaking to TNT Sports, he brought up Rogers by name.

“The Morgan Rogers [tackle] on Jimmy [Garner] could have been questioned,” Moyes said. “We’re not saying that we want everything to be a free-kick or stopped.” Moyes added that a different decision on Rogers “would have made it a second yellow and that wasn’t the case”.

Moyes was just as unhappy with a call that went against his own team. Everton’s Harrison Armstrong was booked in the first half for a challenge on Josh Acheampong. Moyes said the tackle was “probably the best part of the first half” and that he thought it looked “a half-decent tackle”. “I didn’t think the Harrison tackle was refereed correctly,” he said.

He also said he thought it should not have been given as a foul: “I didn’t think it was in anyway a free-kick. Their player jumped up and got on with it.”

Moyes Also Looks at His Own Team

The Everton manager did not hide behind the officials. He said the performance was “not as good as we’d have wanted” and pointed out that the first goal came straight after half-time and “was a blow to us”, while the second took a few deflections before it reached Neto.

“There were parts of the game where we did OK, but mainly we didn’t offer enough or create enough,” Moyes said. “I can’t think of many chances we had, which is the biggest indictment I can give of our performance.” Everton’s best chance came in the first half, when Thierno Barry headed straight into the arms of Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez. Everton finished with six shots in total.

Chelsea Take the Win and Lose Their Goalkeeper

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso told TNT Sports he was pleased with a “mature” performance. He said the clean sheet felt good but wants more of them. “It is just one game. If it is just one clean sheet, it will be very poor. We need many more,” he said.

The win was marred by an injury to Martinez, who suffered a head injury in a collision with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite in the 66th minute. After nearly nine minutes of treatment he was stretchered off and taken to hospital for precautionary tests. Twenty-one-year-old Penders replaced him and became Chelsea’s youngest Premier League goalkeeper.