The Premier League have confirmed that VAR agreed with referee David Coote’s decision not to send Lisandro Martinez off for his two-footed challenge on Daichi Kamada.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson even sprinted out to protest against Coote’s decision, receiving a booking of his own for doing so. Around 15 minutes after the incident, the Premier League’s Match Centre account posted an explanation of the decision-making process on social media platform X, confirming that VAR had checked for a red card.
“The referee issued a yellow card to Martinez for a challenge on Kamada,” their post read. “VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee’s call of no red card, deeming this was a reckless challenge and made no contact with Kamada.”
Crystal Palace suffered yet another defeat as they lost 2-0 against Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday (9 November) at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles were thoroughly outplayed by the Cottagers, who moved to sixth in the table on the same points as fourth-placed Chelsea.
Jean-Philippe Mateta came close to scoring, but his former teammate Joachim Andersen cleared a bundled effort off the line. Other than that, the home side was toothless throughout the entire 90 minutes.
Without Eddie Nketiah, Adam Wharton, Eberechi Eze and Jefferson Lerma, Palace lacked quality against Fulham, and their day turned from bad to worse when Daichi Kamada picked up a red card for a reckless challenge on Kenny Tete.
At the stroke of halftime, Maxence Lacroix gave away the ball cheaply, and Emile Smith Rowe, racing on to Raul Jimenez’s pass, dispatched a delightful left-footed effort past Dean Henderson.
Harry Wilson came off the bench to add the second goal for Fulham. Both Smith-Rowe and Wilson also had goals disallowed during the game after VAR checks.
What Clinton Morrison said about Daichi Kamada
Kamada produced a brilliant performance in the EFL Cup win over Aston Villa, but it is fair to say that the 28-year-old has been struggling badly since joining the Eagles in the summer on a free transfer.
He is a versatile player, but central midfield is definitely not the area where he is most comfortable playing. With so many key players missing for Palace, Oliver Glasner was forced to use Kamada in midfield.
Clinton Morrison described the tackle as “terrible” and added that Kamada is “nowhere near good enough” at the moment.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Morrison added: “He is not a central midfielder. He is playing there as a central midfielder. At the moment, he is nowhere near good enough. He is low on confidence. It’s a terrible tackle.”
The international break couldn’t have come at the best possible time for Palace. The Eagles need a reset, and Glasner needs his key players back as soon as possible.
He has the backing of the owner, but if the results do not improve quickly, his position at the club will be under threat.
Morrison is spot on that Kamada is currently lacking confidence, and using him in unfamiliar positions (albeit a forced move) is not helping anyone.
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