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Newcastle United have ended their 56-year trophy drought after winning the EFL Cup – and they’re not the only major English club to have experienced a long barren period without success
By: Olumide Akinyemi (Onside Footy Chief Editor) Twitter: OluWenzo Instagram: olu_herodotus
The PGMOL – the refereeing body of English football – has explained why Lisandro Martinez avoided a red card for his challenge on Cole Palmer during Sunday’s clash between Manchester United and Chelsea.
A rare moment of quality from Moises Caicedo cancelled out Bruno Fernandes’ penalty as visitors Chelsea secured a hard-fought point to climb above Arsenal in the Premier League table.
It was a far-from-memorable game in Manchester but one of the big talking points came in stoppage time, when referee Robert Jones was met with an awkward decision to make.
With a minute remaining, United defender Lisandro Martinez caught Cole Palmer on the knee with his studs high. VAR Michael Salisbury proceeded to review the incident but to the surprise of many, he did not upgrade the booking to a red.
After the incident, the Premier League Match Centre released a statement on the incident.
“The referee issued a yellow card to Martinez for a challenge on Palmer,” they said. “VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee’s call of no red card, deeming that it was a reckless challenge and not serious foul play.”
Roy Keane, meanwhile, said Martinez was “very lucky” to stay on the pitch.
One said: “How did Lisandro Martínez escape a red card here? The inconsistency in this league is baffling,” while another wrote: “How did he get away with it?”
A third commented: “Lisandro Martínez’s biggest asset as a player: Avoiding red cards that in literally any other scenario would be a straight expulsion.”
A fourth wrote: “Lisandro Martínez should’ve been shown a straight red,” and a fifth added: “It’s the same as Bruno’s against Spurs that wasn’t a red now all of a sudden they’re campaigning for it to be a red.”