Ange Postecoglou fires accusation at Prem refs as Chelsea star Moises Caicedo avoids red

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou accused Premier League referees of refusing to make important decisions after Moises Caicedo avoided a red card in their 4-3 defeat to Chelsea.

Caicedo was fortunate to escape punishment after catching Pape Matar Sarr with his studs in a 50-50 challenge in the first half.

Referee Anthony Taylor waved play on and did not even brandish a yellow card for the Ecuadorian.

VAR checked the incident for a potential red card, but it was deemed not to be a use of ‘excessive force’, which is required for the video assistance system to overturn the on-field decision.

When asked about the controversy after the game, the Australian claimed officials are refusing to act decisively on big decisions and are leaving it to VAR officials to decide matches.

“That’s what is happening in the game now, referees are leaving it to other powers that be to make decisions,” Postecoglou said.

“There were a couple [of decisions] that didn’t go our way but there’s nothing we can do about that. It’s out of our control.”

He added: “I’ve said it before… but I don’t think technology has helped our game. Instead of one person being in control, it feels like no one is in control.”

The Premier League’s Match Centre released a statement to explain why Caicedo was not dismissed for the lunge.

It read: “VAR checked for a potential red card following a challenge by Caicedo on Sarr and confirmed the referee’s call of no serious foul play.”

Upon seeing the replay, Sky Sports co-commentator Jamie Carragher was adamant that the £115million star should have been dismissed.

“I mean that is unbelievable. I don’t like seeing people sent off, but I was certain that was going to be a red card,” Carragher said. “They’ve got away with a huge one there Chelsea.”

To make matters worse for Spurs, Caicedo played a part in the third goal and generally had a major influence on Chelsea’s comeback in the second half.

Spurs raced into an early two-goal lead through Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski before Jadon Sancho pulled one back for the Blues.

The midfielder was then felled in the box by Yves Bissouma and Cole Palmer dispatched the penalty to make it 2-2, before Enzo Fernandez gave Chelsea the lead.

Palmer scored a brilliant panenka late on to make it 4-2 after Sarr brought him down, before Son Heung-min added a consolation in stoppage time.