Cole Palmer should have been sent off ten minutes earlier, KMI panel rules

The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel has concluded that Chelsea forward Cole Palmer should have been dismissed with a straight red card in the 70th minute of Chelsea’s match against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on 24 October — a full ten minutes before he was actually sent off.

By a 3-2 majority, the five-member independent panel determined that referee Chris Kavanagh was wrong to show Palmer only a yellow card following an altercation with Spurs midfielder Mateus Fernandes. Three panellists judged that Palmer’s challenge involved “clear contact to the head” and constituted violent conduct that was “unnecessary, dangerous and made with excessive force”, warranting immediate dismissal.

Despite that majority finding, all five panellists agreed that VAR John Brooks was correct not to recommend an on-field review, meaning the original yellow card stood at the time. Palmer was ultimately sent off in the 80th minute after collecting a second booking for a foul on Conor Gallagher.

The same review session also examined a penalty claim from Aston Villa’s victory over Manchester City. A 3-2 majority of the panel felt Villa should have been awarded a spot-kick after Elliot Anderson tangled with Johan Manzambi, with three members arguing Anderson made no attempt to play the ball and deliberately widened his stance to obstruct Manzambi’s run. Two panellists believed a clear and obvious error had occurred, though the majority backed the VAR’s decision not to intervene.

A third incident, from the Coventry versus Fulham fixture, drew criticism of VAR Jarred Gillett, who the panel said should have flagged a late first-half incident for review. The panel agreed with the eventual outcome — no penalty to Fulham — but noted that Gillett ought to have directed referee Adam Herczeg to the pitchside monitor. The sequence involved a hold by Fulham’s Calvin Bassey before the corner was taken, followed by a separate infringement from Coventry’s Bradley Thomas-Asante once the ball was in play.

According to Premier League figures, 88 per cent of 162 key incidents assessed by the panel this season were correctly judged on the pitch, a figure that matches the same stage last season. When VAR intervention is factored in, that accuracy rate rises to 99 per cent.