Rio Ferdinand was left stunned by what he was told at half-time about the challenge from Nicolas Jackson on Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu on Tuesday.
Tuesday proved to be a nightmare evening for Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino’s side were blown away by the Premier League leaders during the second-half at the Emirates.
Arsenal were relentless after the break having only led 1-0 beforehand. But Chelsea should have been dealt a big blow during the first 45 minutes.
Nicolas Jackson escaped punishment after a nasty challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu which left the Arsenal defender in a heap on the floor.
Replays showed that it was an extremely poor challenge from Jackson, who has come in for a lot of criticism in recent times as he continues to struggle to adapt to life at Chelsea.
Rio Ferdinand stunned by what he was told about Nicolas Jackson challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu
The Senegalese went in with his studs up. And that saw Tomiyasu roll his ankle. The Arsenal man was arguably extremely fortunate to avoid a serious injury.
Play did resume quickly. And that prompted Rio Ferdinand to express his disbelief on TNT Sports (broadcast on 23/4; 20:54) after thinking that VAR could not have checked the challenge.
However, he was then informed that VAR did indeed have a look at the tackle before deciding that no further action was needed.
“Wow, I’d love them to come and explain that to me please,” he said.
VAR continues to completely baffle fans
This is one instance which helps explain why the use of VAR baffles so many. Ultimately, Jackson could have had no complaints at all if he had been shown a red card.
It was certainly worth a longer look than it seemed to get.
And it is completely bizarre that a decision can be reviewed in that manner and it does not see Jackson at least booked.
Of course, that is not down to the VAR. The referee should have had an idea of how bad a challenge it was. But it is also out of his control to subsequently book the Chelsea striker.
Thankfully for Arsenal, the decision did not come back to haunt them as they thrashed the Blues.
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