“I thought it was touch and go,” Potter confessed at his post-match press conference
Graham Potter, the manager of Chelsea, has acknowledged that he can sympathize with Patrick Vieira, the manager of Crystal Palace, after seeing defender Thiago Silva escape a red card for intentional handball during both teams’ Premier League match on Saturday.
Chelsea overcame Crystal Palace 2-1, allowing Potter to celebrate his first victory as manager.
At Selhurst Park Stadium, Conor Gallagher and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored goals for the Blues against the Palace.
But shortly after the halfway point of the game, Silva stumbled under pressure from Jordan Ayew, and the Brazilian desperately palmed the ball away from danger in an effort to stop the Crystal Palace forward from moving toward goal.
Because the VAR believed there had not been a blatant and evident error, the referee Chris Kavanagh chose to issue a yellow card instead of intervening.
In his post-game presser, Potter admitted, “I thought it was touch and go.”
“He was rescued by the fact that he was far from the target; things may have turned out differently.
“I understand Patrick’s [Vieira’s] displeasure; it’s a close call. It’s a coin toss.