November 23rd 2024.
Cole Palmer was lucky to come out unscathed from a dangerous tackle during the match against Leicester City. Enzo Maresca, however, has a different view from the majority of Chelsea fans who were outraged that referee Andy Madley did not give a red card to Wilfried Ndidi for his shocking challenge on Palmer. Despite this incident, Chelsea emerged victorious with a 2-1 win over Leicester, thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez.
The Blues were in control of the game for the first 30 minutes, causing the Foxes to become increasingly frustrated and resort to committing reckless fouls. One of these fouls came from Ndidi in the 22nd minute, as he attempted to stop Palmer by chopping him down from behind and making contact with the back of his ankle. Thankfully, Palmer, who was already nursing an injury, was able to avoid any further harm, while Ndidi received only a yellow card.
According to the Premier League match panel, as reported by TNT presenter Lynsey Hipgrave, Ndidi was not given a harsher punishment because the VAR determined that he was only a short distance away from Palmer when he made the tackle, and it was also deemed to lack intensity. When asked for his opinion, former Chelsea player Cole could not believe what he was hearing and was just relieved that Palmer was not seriously injured.
"He lacked intensity?" Cole questioned incredulously. "He jumped and landed on Cole Palmer's Achilles heel. It could have potentially ended his season. That was an old-fashioned challenge, a 'I'm going to take you out' kind of tackle. Leicester were way off their game, and Ndidi let his frustration get the best of him. He should have been sent off."
Fellow pundit Peter Crouch also expressed his disbelief, saying, "You get sent off for raising your hands or pushing someone, but this tackle could have ended Palmer's season."
But when asked for his opinion, Chelsea manager Maresca, who previously worked at Leicester, did not believe that Ndidi deserved a red card. "I don't think it was worthy of a red, to be honest," he said in his post-match press conference.
Palmer has unfortunately been on the receiving end of several bad fouls this season, including one from Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez. When asked if opponents were targeting the young midfielder, Maresca replied, "I don't believe that Cole is being singled out. I mentioned after the Man United game that when there is malicious intent, the punishment must be harsher. I'm not saying that Ndidi had malicious intent, as I have great respect for him. But in general, when there is bad intention, the punishment should reflect that."
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