Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo found himself in a contentious situation during the Carabao Cup final on Sunday after his challenge left Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch unable to continue.
With key players such as Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, and Dominik Szoboszlai already sidelined for the match at Wembley, Liverpool’s squad depth was already stretched thin. Gravenberch’s premature departure after 28 minutes due to Caicedo’s challenge only exacerbated their woes.
The game between Liverpool and their opponents saw a controversial incident occur. Caicedo made a reckless challenge on Gravenberch, which caused the Dutch midfielder to be carried off on a stretcher due to an ankle injury. This led to Liverpool fans protesting, but the referee and VAR officials decided not to take any action.
The VAR officials reviewed the incident and did not find it necessary to punish Caicedo retrospectively. The officials deemed that although the tackle was reckless, it was not severe enough to be considered serious foul play. As a result, the original decision to not award a yellow card remained valid.
It’s important to note that if a yellow card isn’t issued initially, VAR officials cannot issue one retrospectively. Additionally, Caicedo had previously committed a foul on Wataru Endo without receiving a booking.
On the sidelines, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was furious with the decision and moments later, Chelsea almost took the lead through Raheem Sterling, whose effort was ruled offside.
In the second half, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk also saw an effort ruled out offside, but the Dutch defender went on to score the winner late in extra time.
On the incident involving Caicedo and Gravenberch, former Premier League referee Mike Dean said on Sky Sports: “I think he’s caught his foot on his [Gravenberch’s] foot.”