Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg gave the officiating crew for last night’s incident-filled London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea high marks for their work.
Spurs lost 4-1, which doesn’t even begin to reflect the chaos, and gave up both first place and their perfect start to the Premier League season.
The officiating team had a challenging evening with five goals disallowed and nine separate VAR reviews, but Clattenburg thinks Michael Oliver and his support staff came out on top.
Cristiano Romero was shown the red card for a dangerous two-footed challenge in the first half by the match official. Destiny Udogie was also sent off for his second bookable offense after the break for scything down Raheem Sterling.
But according to Clattenburg, Udogie was lucky not to have been sent off during the first half when he made a strong lunge at Sterling, resembling the same offense that resulted in Romero’s dismissal.
“Two factors made Destiny Udogie fortunate,” Clatternburg told the Daily Mail.One, in order to avoid suffering a major injury, Raheem Sterling pulled his leg away.
Secondly, Brooks neglected to inform Oliver that this challenge was deserving of a red. Udogie took off, leading with his two feet and flashing his studs.
Under Clattenburg’s leadership, the infamous “Battle of the Bridge” in 2016 saw Chelsea end Spurs’ title hopes with a thrilling comeback in a match that finished 2-2 and resulted in 13 yellow cards being shown.
The 48-year-old acknowledged that the drama from last night brought back memories of that terrible event, but he was impressed by the officiating team’s level-headedness in ensuring controversy was kept to a minimum.
He described it as “mayhem,” comparing it to a kind of 2016 “The Battle of the Bridge” sequel.
“This game was as hectic for the officiating team to govern, and that was the hardest match I have ever had to referee.”
“That was only in the first half! There were crunching challenges, pouting kicks, penalty claims, disallowed goals, and possible elbows!”
It was the kind of competition where the officiating staff had to perform to the highest standard.
“What happened here tested the limits of referee Michael Oliver and VAR John Brooks, who had to manage the spectacle while adhering to the laws.”
