Richard Keys reacts to ‘Rank’ Tottenham controversy v Chelsea
Richard Keys has “no idea” how Dejan Kulusevski wasn’t sent off for Tottenham in their 4-3 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday.
Keys posted on X (8 December) following Spurs’ defeat to their London rivals, in which Kulusevski appeared to elbow Romeo Lavia in the head in full view of referee Anthony Taylor.
Spurs were 2-1 up at the time of the incident late in the first half with Kulusevski’s eleventh-minute goal the difference, but Keys and Keith Hackett were in agreement that the Swede should have been sent off.
Keys wrote: “And how Kulusevski stayed on I’ve no idea. Taylor was actually looking at that one.
“It’s just rank bad refereeing.”
Dejan Kulusevski gets lucky escape in Tottenham v Chelsea
While Kulusevski was extremely lucky to avoid a straight red card for his fairly blatant elbow on Lavia in the London derby, his and Spurs’ second-half display was anonymous at best.
Having already let Chelsea back into the contest just six minutes after Kulusevski’s goal had doubled their early lead, Ange Postecoglou’s side collapsed yet again in the second half to lose 4-3.
Kulusevski, who was eventually withdrawn in the 79th minute, had next to no impact in the second period as Chelsea ran riot, and fans would have been forgiven for thinking he had indeed been sent off.
The Sweden international has been one of Spurs’ best so far this season with three league goals and assists apiece, but it’s clear frustration is even getting to the star players in Posteocglou’s side.
Whether retrospective action is taken against Kulusevski – and Taylor – remains to be seen, but given the nature of the incident, the Lilywhites could be without their key man for the coming weeks.
In other Tottenham news, one Spurs loanee put Postecoglou on notice with what he did recently on FA Cup duty.
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