Carlo Ancelotti defends Michael Essien over red card
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has defended Michael Essien after the midfielder was sent off in the 1-0 English Premier League victory over Fulham on Wednesday, 10 November.
The Ghana international, who scored the only goal of the game when he headed home Salomon Kalou’s cross in the first half, was dismissed for a two-footed lunge on Fulham attacker Clint Dempsey deep into injury-time.
However, Ancelotti has defended his player, claiming that he felt that because Essien won the ball, he should not have been red-carded.
The Italian told reporters, "I don't like to judge the decision. But I can say that maybe it was not a red card because he made a strong tackle, but on the ball. There was not a risk on the opponent. I think Essien went for the ball.
"He tried to do a tackle, and he won it. I'm not sure it was a sending off. We have to wait. I want to watch the replay before doing anything."
In the fifth minute of added time, Essien jumped into a tackle for the ball with both feet. While he won the challenge, referee Martin Atkinson considered it to have been dangerous enough to warrant a straight red card for Essien, who is now likely to miss
matches against Sunderland, Birmingham City and Newcastle United.
That is likely to mean a selection headache for Ancelotti, who is already missing Yossi Benayoun due to injury, while Frank Lampard is still working his way back to full fitness after his hernia operation at the start of September.
Meanwhile, despite Ancelotti’s claims that Essien should not have been dismissed, Fulham boss Mark Hughes backed Atkinson’s decision.
"The guy has jumped in with two feet, so it's a straight red."
Tags: