The spotlight has been shining brightly on all referees this season, so imagine Michael Salisbury’s astonishment when he showed the wrong color card at Stamford Bridge.
Crystal Palace star Chris Richards was given a red card by Premier League referee Michael Salisbury by mistake.
At the time, Roy Hodgson’s men were under pressure from a Chelsea team searching for a late winner. Noni Madueke led a threatening Blues counter-attack in the closing 15 minutes of normal time, which was also assisted by Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja.
Madueke was taken down by Richards before he could feed either of Mauricio Pochettino’s attackers. As the Palace star awaited his expected yellow card, he was surprised to see a red emerge from Salisbury’s pocket – only the official had unintentionally brandished the wrong color.
Salisbury instantly realized his error when everyone around Stamford Bridge gasped. He awkwardly put his palm up before slipping the red card back into his pocket and replaced it with the yellow.
Salisbury battled to keep the laughter from overpowering him after that. When Roy Hodgson saw the flash of red, he would have been concerned, as the game was on the verge of collapse.
Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Mykhailo Mudryk headed home Malo Gusto’s low cross. On the stroke of halftime, Michael Olise hushed the Bridge by sliding home an excellent equalizer.
Salisbury was in the center of the action in the 85th minute when Eberechi Eze dove into a challenge and took Noni Madueke down in the penalty area. He directed to the spot after a cursory scan at the VAR monitor, giving the Englishman the chance to win the game.
Madueke claimed he and his teammates were relieved with the victory after his penalty reached the bottom corner. “It was a difficult game,” he commented after the contest. “Credit to Crystal Palace; they played well and were difficult to break down.” But we deserve credit as well.
“It was a stonewall punishment.” I had previously scored a penalty in the cup and felt confident in my technique [in the absence of regular penalty takers Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer]. You want to keep playing all the time. You want to be able to make an impact off the bench like I did tonight.”