"I'd be raging in the dressing room" - Jamie O'Hara says Conor Gallagher has every right to be frustrated with Chelsea teammate who 'killed' him in the build-up to red card
In what was only his second start in a Chelsea shirt, midfielder Conor Gallagher had a rather forgetful outing in the Premier League against Leicester City on Saturday, August 27. The 22-year-old was shown a red card in the 28th minute of the game as a result of collecting a second yellow.
However, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and talkSPORT pundit Jamie O'Hara did not think Gallagher was solely responsible for his sending off. The way he saw it, Chelsea summer signing Marc Cucurella was partly guilty of getting his teammate sent off.
O'Hara wrote on Twitter:
"Cucurella absolutely killed Conor Gallagher, I’d be raging in the dressing room, gotta use his head though #Chelsea #PremierLeague"
Cucurella absolutely killed Conor Gallagher, I’d be raging in the dressing room, gotta use his head though #Chelsea #PremierLeague
The manner of the two yellow cards was quite similar as the midfielder tried to stop the counter-attack on both occasions. He first entered the referee's books in the 22nd minute when he pulled back Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from progressing with the ball.
Just six minutes later, Chelsea were attacking Leicester City from a corner as Cucurella sent in an inswinging delivery, which was defended. The Spaniard was quick to get to the ball but hit it for a square pass that was completely misplaced. Harvey Barnes took the ball and unleashed a counter-attack.
Hilarious that much of Chelsea twitter have focused their attention on Conor Gallagher, out of position, in his first start for the club, while £70m Kai Havertz continues to offer absolutely NOTHING in season three.
Gallagher was isolated and was the last line of defense as all the other Chelsea defenders were chasing Barnes. The midfielder carelessly laid a hand on the onrushing Leicester forward, who fell on feeling the contact and got the English international sent-off.
O'Hara is not wrong to suggest that Cucurella really put his team in jeopardy with that loose pass, but Gallagher should have been more mindful having already been booked.
Luckily, Chelsea were able to win all three points at Stamford Bridge in front of their home crowd despite playing for more than an hour with one man down.
Raheem Sterling broke his Blues duck and scored a brace to guide his team to victory. The Foxes were able to halve the deficit moments after Sterling scored his second in the second-half through Barnes, but they could not grab an equalizer despite all the hard work.
Gallagher apologizes for his mistake, Chelsea manager calls his on-field action a 'bad decision'
The Blues academy graduate is trying to become a first-team starter at Stamford Bridge after impressing on loan at Crystal Palace last season. The red card and the manner of his two offenses will obviously not reflect well when Thomas Tuchel chooses his team next time.
However, for whatever it's worth, the Chelsea midfielder took to Instagram to quickly post an apology after the game.
Thomas Tuchel, who was serving a touchline ban and was not in the dugout, was asked to comment on the red-card and was not pleased. However, the German did acknowledge the sloppiness of the set-piece.
He said, via The Sun:
"He is responsible for what he did and of course he knows it was a huge mistake. It's not purely his fault alone because it's a set-piece for us and it's sloppy how we take set-pieces at the moment. It’s a very, very bad decision from Conor and, of course, he is upset. Everybody was upset at this moment because it almost kills the whole football match."