Hakim Ziyech was shown red on Sunday, before it was rescinded (Picture: Getty Images)
It was a confusing few minutes in north London on Sunday as the Tottenham vs Chelsea game descended into chaos, Hakim Ziyech was shown a red card and then it was rescinded.
In the first half of the London derby, Kai Havertz had a kick at Spurs forward Richarlison before Ziyech completed the job of bringing down the Brazilian.
That caused something of a scuffle, which saw Emerson royal shove Ziyech in the back and the Moroccan respond by pushed him in the shoulder, but his hand slipped over the shoulder and into the Tottenham man’s face.
It wasn’t clear what was going on at first as referee Stuart Attwell booked Havertz and Emerson and then, after a delay, showed Ziyech a red card, but immediately went to the VAR screen and decided to rescind it, instead showing him a yellow.
The decision to show the red card and then go and look at the monitor seemed off, but Sky Sports’ Kelly Cates attempted to explain the situation at half-time.
‘Havertz is booked for the initial challenge, Ziyech gets involved, a lot of other players get involved and Royal is also booked,’ Cates said.
‘However, there is then an incident involving Hakim Ziyech, they see Royals’ face being pushed, that’s what the on-field referee Stuart Atwell has seen when the players all gather around him.
‘It goes to his assistant, they’ve seen Emerson Royal has been pushed in the face but haven’t seen who’s done it.
‘The VAR, Paul Tierney and his assistant, say it was Ziyech, the referee on the field then has to make a decision, so he gives a red card to Hakim Ziyech.
‘Then he can go over to the monitor once the decision has been made, and then he makes a decision on whether or not it was a red card.
Ziyech stayed on after a confusing incident (Picture: Getty Images)
‘At the end of all of that, Royal and Havertz are booked. Ziyech is given a red card and that red card is then rescinded after Stuart Atwell has made it over to the monitor.’
Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink felt that Attwell eventually got to the correct outcome, saying: ‘Well done to the referee to return it to yellow, I think it was the right decision.’
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It was a confusing few minutes in north London.
