Maresca annoyed by refereeing inconsistency

Enzo Maresca suggested Piero Hincapie was lucky to avoid a red card – and hit out at the inconsistency of Premier League officiating – after 10-man Chelsea battled to a 1-1 draw against Arsenal.

Moises Caicedo was sent off in the first half after catching Mikel Merino late, and the Blues played for nearly an hour without their star midfielder.

While Maresca admitted referee Anthony Taylor was right to dismiss Caicedo, he questioned how Hincapie stayed on the pitch moments later after appearing to catch Trevoh Chalobah in the face.

The Chelsea boss also recalled a challenge made by Rodrigo Bentancur on Reece James during his team’s win at Tottenham on November 1, which was similar to Caicedo’s, and questioned why he was not sent off as well.

“Moises’ red card, it’s a red card,” Maresca said. “But why was Bentancur against Reece not a red card?

“As a manager, we struggle to understand why (the officials) judge in a different way.

“Moises’ is a red card, yes. Bentancur’s is a red card, yes. Why didn’t they give him a red card? We struggle to understand.

“The reality is that it’s a red card. But why do they judge it in a different way?

“And the Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said to me that it was not an elbow.

“This is what they said. But he has a black eye, and he was using ice at half-time. They judged it in a different way.”

Maresca added that Chelsea were the better team when it was 11 versus 11, and suggested the red card changed the “dynamic” of the match.

When asked what he was most proud of about the performance, he said: “For sure, the effort of the players.

“Arsenal, they are top of the Premier League, top of the Champions League.

“They have the best defense in the Premier League, probably the best defence in the Champions League. And I think, 11 versus 11, we were better than them.

“Then with 10 players it changed the dynamic, so the effort from the players has been outstanding.”