Chelsea 1-1 Nottingham Forest: Blues positives and negatives

3. A Referee Out of His Depth

Chelsea racked up six yellow cards against Nottingham Forest, and some of them were baffling. Marc Cucurella was booked after being tackled by Neco Williams long after the ball had gone out of play. Meanwhile, Cole Palmer was cautioned simply for pointing out that Forest was taking a free-kick from the wrong spot. Referee Chris Kavanagh seemed to hand out cards for the sake of it, with little logic behind his decisions.

Chelsea currently leads the Premier League in yellow cards, but many of these bookings have been unjust, a reflection of the refereeing rather than the team’s discipline. Due to Kavanagh’s poor officiating, Cucurella will miss Chelsea’s upcoming visit to Anfield, having accumulated five yellow cards.

Kavanagh’s incompetence wasn’t limited to fouls, either. When Nottingham Forest made substitutions, their players strolled off the pitch without urgency, yet the referee made no effort to hurry them along. And when Morgan Gibbs-White was injured, Kavanagh inexplicably delayed play, waiting for Nicolás Dominguez to get ready as a substitute instead of letting the game continue. Until the Premier League addresses such incompetent refereeing, English officials will continue to be the laughingstock of world football.