Morgan Rogers Lucky Not to See Red at Everton, Says Bothroyd

• Sky Sports pundit Jay Bothroyd says Chelsea’s Morgan Rogers was lucky to avoid a red card for a first-half tackle on Everton’s James Garner: “I think it is a red card and Rogers is lucky.”
• Rogers was already on a yellow card when the referee played on, which took VAR out of the decision, according to former referee Dermot Gallagher.
• Cole Palmer and Everton’s Harrison Armstrong also escaped harsher punishment in a game Chelsea won 2-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Referee Played On and VAR Never Got a Say

Tim Sherwood did not need a replay to make up his mind about Morgan Rogers. “He could’ve broken his leg,” the Sky Sports pundit said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday. “It’s a poor challenge. That’s a straight red card.”

The tackle came in the first half of Chelsea’s win at Everton on Saturday. Rogers was already on a yellow card when he went into a challenge with Everton’s James Garner, and the referee did not show a second one. The incident became the big talking point of the game at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Mike Dean said on Soccer Saturday that it was a minimum of a yellow card, which would have meant Rogers was sent off. Sky Sports carried his verdict on the incident in a video headed: “I called red straight away!”

Why VAR Could Not Step In

Gallagher explained why the video officials stayed out of it. The referee had not given a foul, and that decision shaped everything that followed. “He’s lucky the referee didn’t give a free kick,” Gallagher said. He added that once the referee plays on, VAR is left deciding whether the tackle is a second yellow, and it cannot go for that.

Gallagher put the challenge on the threshold of a straight red card and said there was a “damning angle” where Rogers can be seen leaping into the tackle. That alone, he said, “would send warning bells into the referee’s head”. He also pointed out that the linesman had made a fair point that both players lunged, which raised the question of “who is the real guilty party?”

Bothroyd was less nuanced. He said that at normal speed he thought it was a 50/50 challenge in which both players committed. Then he gave his verdict: “I think it is a red card and Rogers is lucky.”

Cole Palmer and the Ball in the Air

Rogers was not the only Chelsea player in the discussion. Cole Palmer was booked for dissent later in the game, but the panel spent time on an earlier moment. After Everton were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area, Palmer booted the ball high into the air and was not given a yellow card for time-wasting.

Gallagher said the argument in Palmer’s favour is that he was kicking the ball back to where the free kick should be taken, back to Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. He still thought it was a booking. “I didn’t say it wasn’t a yellow card,” Gallagher said. “If you do that, you run such a risk and how you get away with that, I don’t know.”

Bothroyd said he has seen players throw the ball in the air and get booked for less. “That’s definitely a yellow. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

The panel also looked at whether Palmer should have been shown a second yellow in second-half stoppage time for a challenge. Gallagher was not convinced. “If we give a yellow card for every bit of physical contact, we are going to sanitise the game,” he said. Sherwood disagreed: “nine times out of 10 it is a yellow card and it should have been then.”

Armstrong’s Tackle on Acheampong

Everton had a moment of their own. Harrison Armstrong dived in on Chelsea defender Josh Acheampong and referee Paul Tierney showed him a yellow card, which the Chelsea players felt was too lenient.

Gallagher said Armstrong got away with it. “He is lucky he did not catch him, he catches him with his shin rather than his studs,” he said, adding that a straight-legged challenge with studs would have led to a red card. Bothroyd noted that Acheampong got straight back up and carried on, which suggested the defender thought it was a tough but fair tackle.

Sherwood pointed to what Everton’s David Moyes said after the game. “Moyes said it afterwards, everyone loves a tackle like that apart from the referees at the moment,” Sherwood said.

A Weekend of Referee Rows

Chelsea left Merseyside with a 2-0 win and a goalkeeper in hospital. Emiliano Martinez broke his jaw in a clash of heads with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and needed surgery, with the Argentina international saying he will be back in a few weeks. Mike Penders, who replaced him, is set to play in Chelsea’s next three games.

Gallagher, Bothroyd, Sherwood and Dean all questioned calls that went Chelsea’s way. Chelsea face Tottenham next in the Premier League, with a Carabao Cup tie at Liverpool before they meet Manchester United.