In one of the most bizarre moments of the Premier League season, Southampton's Jack Stephens got shown a red card for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair.
Southampton was preparing for a corner kick in the 39th minute when its captain decided to tug on Cucurella's hair, prompting the Chelsea defender to fall to the ground. VAR called match referee, Tony Harrington over to check the action and after some consideration he returned and had no choice but to to send Stephens off. An action that Stephens had no reason to give the officials a decision to make added insult to a poor first half.
Southampton’s Jack Stephens was sent off late in the first half against Chelsea after pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair. 🟥
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 4, 2024
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The action looked very reminiscent of when Tottenham defender, Cristian Romero, pulled Cucurella's hair in a game during the 2022–23 season, only that time, match referee, Anthony Taylor opted against issuing any punishment for the action.
After a promising start, costly mistakes saw it go down 1–3 prior to going down to 10 men. The Saints were a massive underdog coming into the tie, but after the red card Southampton immersed itself in a hairy situation. Pun intended.
Chelsea continues to impress early on under Enzo Maresca's leadership. Despite constant claims that the team is not in the title race, stacking up points and the state of the table come Christmas could lead the Italian to change his tune.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Southampton's Jack Stephens Receives One of the Silliest Red Cards vs. Chelsea.
