After Southampton defender Jack Stephens was fired for the same offense in 2022, Mike Dean said that he was
mistaken to not demand that Tottenham’s Cristian Romero be sent off against Chelsea.
Despite being on VAR duty for the beginning of the next season, Dean’s tenure in the Premier League came to an end
at the end of the 2021–22 season. The hair of Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella was tugged by Spurs defender Romero in
August 2022, but neither on-field referee Anthony Taylor nor VAR official Dean thought incident warranted a red
card.
When Chelsea defeated Southampton on Wednesday, Cucurella was in the center of yet another similar episode.
Tony Harrington sent Stephens off after a VAR check, but his hair-pull on the Spaniard was missed in real time.
retired referee As a member of the Soccer Special panel on Sky Sports, Dean was providing live coverage of the game.
The 56-year-old was forced to acknowledge that he was mistaken two years ago when fellow panelist Paul Merson
questioned him about the distinction between the offenses.
“Unfortunately, I was involved in one of these incidents about three years ago,” Dean stated. Romero may have been
the one who tugged Cucurella’s hair. I [sent him off] didn’t do it.
However, he must be sent off because it is obvious that he did it. He has received two red cards this season. It must
be a farewell; it cannot be otherwise.
“[Romero wasn’t sent off] because I got it wrong,” he stated in response to Merson’s continued prodding.
Additionally, [Stephens] has been sent out.
After receiving his second red card of the season, Stephens will now have to spend a significant amount of time on
the sidelines. In September, he was also sent off for fouling Alejandro Garnacho against Manchester United.
When the center-back collided with Cucurella against Chelsea, Southampton was already behind 3-1 and had given
up two more goals before the end of the game. As his team is still seven points from safety, Saints manager Russell
Martin attempted to find the bright side, implying that they were in the game prior to Stephens’ departure.
Martin remarked, “I discovered a lot about a few individuals.” “Joe Aribo, Nathan Wood, and James Bree were all
really good; they showed greatness after not playing much, and I’m happy of them for that.
“We should have had a 1-0 lead in some of the fantastic football games we played at 11 v 11. We gave up some really
bad goals, but we had a great response and were really in the game until a crucial moment [Stephens’ red card]
changed everything.”
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