Crystal Palace have appealed against the red card that left them with ten men inside 13 minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the officials who made the call could hardly have been clearer about why they made it.
Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Micky van de Ven as the pair chased a loose ball on Saturday. Spurs took full control from there, and goals from Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke settled a 2-0 win, the third Premier League victory in a row for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
The 29-year-old now faces a three-match ban. Crystal Palace hope to have it overturned or cut down, and the timing matters to them: Liverpool are at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Why was Mateta sent off against Tottenham?
Referee Michael Oliver first showed Mateta a yellow card. VAR Jarred Gillett then sent him to the pitchside monitor, and Oliver upgraded it to a straight red.
Gillett left no room for doubt when he talked Oliver through the replay. He said: “Point of contact is on the achilles, nowhere near the ball. He’s sprinting at speed and with intensity, the studs catch him flush on the achilles. I think it ticks all the boxes for serious foul play.”
Oliver then explained the decision to the crowd over the stadium announcer system: “After review, Crystal Palace No.14 makes full, forceful contact with the studs on his opponent’s achilles. The final decision is red card.”
What Palace are arguing
Palace’s case is that the challenge was an accident. They argue Mateta had his eyes on the ball the whole way and never saw Van de Ven coming across him.
That is a hard sell when the officials used words like “flush” and “forceful”, and the decision already has backing elsewhere. Dermot Gallagher, Tim Sherwood and Jay Boothroyd all agreed on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday that Oliver got it right.
The red card shaped the whole afternoon. With Mateta gone, Palace had to sit in, and Spurs had the ball almost all afternoon. Tottenham ended the game with two new Premier League passing records, and Gray, who headed the opener, later said the Marbella trip had turned the squad into brothers.
What a Mateta ban would cost Crystal Palace
If the ban stands, Mateta misses Sunday’s home game with Liverpool before the international break, and then league games against newly promoted Coventry City and Hull City. He would still be available for the Europa League home ties with Hoffenheim and Real Sociedad.
It would be a big blow for Pierre Sage. The Palace boss is under real pressure, his side dropped into the relegation zone after the defeat in north London, and they have won just one of their last six Premier League matches. Mateta had only recently come back from a hamstring injury.
The cupboard is bare behind him, too. Jorgen Strand Larsen is out with an ankle problem, which would leave Eddie Nketiah as Palace’s only fit forward against Liverpool.
Will the Mateta appeal succeed?
No verdict has been announced yet. Our view: Palace are entitled to try, but it is hard to see a panel looking at “full, forceful contact” on the achilles and deciding it was an ordinary foul. Intent is not the test for serious foul play. Speed, force and where the studs land are, and all three went against Mateta.
For Spurs, nothing about the appeal changes the three points, and Van de Ven was on the wrong end of a challenge that could have done real damage. De Zerbi’s side go to Leeds on Saturday lunchtime chasing four league wins in a row, and the challenge of handling Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a different kind of physical test for the same back line.
