Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca angry ‘it’s red’ over David Brooks’ key decision in draw with Bournemouth | Football news
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was left fuming after Premier League history was made by the decision not to send off David Brooks for his challenge on Marco Cucurella during the Blues’ 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.
Bournemouth were lucky not to lose Brooks to a red card in the second half for what looked like a hair-pulling tackle on Marco Cucurella, a VAR review with the pitch sparing the winger.
VAR official Graham Scott sent referee Robert Jones to the monitors to review the incident and consider a red card for Brooks for violent conduct.
But Jones – somewhat surprisingly – chose to stand by his original on-field decision of no red card, instead opting to caution Brooks.
The incident marks the first time in Premier League history that a referee has refused to review a red card after VAR sent it to the pitchside monitor for a second review.
It was also the first VAR monitor rejection of any kind this season.
Managers disagree on Brooks-Cucurella conflict
I’ve said many times, as far as I’m concerned, if there’s no intention to take the ball, it’s a red color, Maresca said. “They have to explain [it]. If they give yellow, it means that something has happened.
“So how can they judge that it was not dangerous? You cannot judge that it was not dangerous.
“The intention was just to go against Marco Cucurella. In my opinion, that’s a red. Hopefully we’ll have better luck with the referee in the future.”
Commenting on the incident, Chelsea club captain Reece James added: “When the referee looks at the monitor, it’s never a good sign.
“There are positives that can be taken from the game, but there are also negatives. There are mixed emotions.”
In December, Southampton defender Jack Stephens was sent off for a similar hair-pulling incident.
The Premier League Match Center said at the time that an on-field review was proposed for possible violent behaviour, which eventually led to Stephens’ dismissal.
However, after being similarly advised to check the monitor during Bournemouth’s clash with Chelsea, referee Jones ruled that Brooks’ actions were reckless but not violent, so there was no sending off.
A statement read: “VAR recommended an on-field review for a possible red card to Brooks for violent conduct. After review, the referee deemed the challenge on Cucurella to have been reckless and not violent – and awarded Brooks a yellow card.”
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola took a different view of the incident to Maresco, claiming Jones was right to let Brooks off with caution.
“I don’t understand why VAR asked the referee to go and check,” he said.
“There was no violence, I think it’s a clean yellow card. For me, Brooks never wants to do anything but stop the counter [attack].
“When you consider how Chelsea played and how we played, I don’t think we deserved to win. I don’t think we were better than Chelsea.”
Maresca is happy for James after the re-fit captain scored a late equaliser
Meanwhile, Maresca said Chelsea captain James deserved his moment after his free-kick saved a point in the fifth minute of stoppage time against Bournemouth.
The captain continued his comeback from a hamstring injury as a second-half substitute and scored a goal at the death to make it 2-2, but despite that Maresca saw his side’s Premier League winless run stretch to five games.
It was James’ first league goal since scoring in a draw with Tottenham in August 2022, marking his return to the side in a league game for the first time since November.
He deserved it after a difficult moment and we got a point with that, said Maresca.
“I’m happy for him and happy for us. Now his goal is to try to be fit until the end [of the season] and he will help us in the way we want to play.”
‘One of our best halves of the season’
Chelsea had enough chances in the first half to finish off Bournemouth with Nicolas Jackson at fault for dismissing the best of them.
He had previously set up the first goal for Cole Palmer, turning the ball intelligently to elude three Bournemouth players before producing a perfect pass for Chelsea’s top scorer to run onto and slot the ball into the net.
The Senegalese striker then hit the post and later went over from six meters with the goal open.
Bournemouth took full advantage of Jackson’s swagger in the second half, equalizing through Justin Kluivert’s penalty before Antoine Semenyo made it 2-1, beating young defender Josh Acheampong and then sending a rocket inside Roberto Sanchez’s near post.
James’ late intervention saved Chelsea but their league winless run continued.
“Probably one of our best first halves of the season, the way we played on and off the ball, we created so many chances,” Maresca said.
“The first half has to end with a different result. I think at least 2-0 is what we deserved. The second half after the penalty, the game changed completely. We dropped a bit and we have to understand why.
“The feeling is a bit of a shame. When you play like that in the first half, you have to be clinical. The match was completely, one hundred percent under control.”
