'You don't dive in' - Michael Owen agrees with the referee's decision to send off Tottenham fullback Udogie

In a very eventful night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur lost their unbeaten record in this season's Premier League as they were thrashed 4-1 by Chelsea in a London derby with two Super Eagles-eligible young stars given minutes by their respective coaches. 

Destiny Udogie got the green light from Tottenham's medical team to return to action after sitting out the Palace game on October 27 due to a knock, while Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu came off the bench in the 90th minute. 

There were two red cards for Ange Postecoglou's team as Cristian Romero and Udogie were sent off and despite Tottenham Hotspur's heroics and a potential equalizer that would have tied the game 2-2, two goals in injury time from the much-criticized Nicolas Jackson saw Chelsea prevail as the home team's lack of numbers eventually told. 

Dejan Kulusevski's opener was canceled out by Cole Palmer in the 35th minute before Jackson put Chelsea 2-1 up with fifteen minutes to go, after Udogie had taken the walk of shame. 

The Italy international of Nigerian descent was yellow carded in the 18th minute for sliding in on Raheem Sterling and the referee upheld his decision after a VAR check .

But the Tottenham number 38 was shown a second yellow nine minutes after the break for diving in late on Sterling, leading to a red card decision.

Speaking after the game on Premier League Productions, former Liverpool, Newcastle United and Manchester United striker Michael Owen noted that referee Michael Oliver had an easy decision to make in dismissing the left-back for a second bookable offense. 

Asked to share his thoughts on Udogie's dismissal, Owen stated: " You are asking the wrong man. I'd normally be in the Sterling position here just trying to get a toe, seeing that the tackle is coming in. The referee's decision is very, very easy, you don't dive in".

Udogie was walking a disciplinary tightrope as he was one yellow card away from an automatic one-game ban before receiving his first red card in the Premier League.  

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

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