Chelsea star Cole Palmer was fortunate to escape a potentially career-threatening injury after Wilfried Ndidi's horror tackle, former Premier League referee Jeff Winter has told Express Sport.
Palmer was scythed down by the Leicester midfielder during the Blues' 2-1 win on Saturday and the 22-year-old suffered a painful knock during the first half. Replays showed that Ndidi had raked his studs down the back of the England international's heel with a challenge from behind during the first half.
Despite that, referee Andrew Madley produced a yellow card instead of showing him red. VAR briefly reviewed the incident before it decided that Madley's on-field decision was the correct call.
But former Premier League referee Winter believes the challenge was so severe it could've inflicted serious damage on Palmer, or worse, potentially wrecked his career.
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"Referees are in very dubious positions at the moment. Even after two weeks off, referees are the highlight," Winter, speaking on behalf of FreeBets.com, told Express Sport.
"I think [PGMOL chief] Howard [Webb] and everyone wanted this weekend to go without incident. And in the very first game, Ndidi's made a tackle where he couldn't get the ball in a million years, gone through the back of an opponent's Achilles in Cole Palmer.
"It could've been a career-threatening injury if he snapped his Achilles and the VAR, in their wisdom, doesn't get involved because there wasn't excessive force."
It was deemed that Ndidi's challenge wasn't worthy of a dismissal as it could not be classed as 'using excessive force' or 'endangering an opponent'.
Winter brandished only 10 red cards in 185 games as a top-flight official before retiring in 2004. Now 69, the Middlesbrough-based official raised an issue with how the current rules are applied when assessing dangerous tackles.
"It doesn't always take excessive force to snap someone's Achilles," he added. "Ndidi shouldn't have been anywhere near his [Palmer's] Achilles because the ball was at the front. He couldn't get it.
"Just when you want things to calm down and talk about football, 20 minutes in, referees are in the spotlight again. I don't think it's a good time to be a referee at the moment.”
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca took a diplomatic view to the decision and used the example of Lisandro Martinez's challenge on Palmer, where the Manchester United defender caught him on the knee, to suggest that Ndidi did not purposely try to hurt the playmaker.
"What I think, and I said after the Manchester United game, when there is bad intention, there has to be a different kind of punishment from the referee," Maresca said in a press conference.
"I think Man United [defender Martinez's tackle] was bad intention. I'm not saying Wilf [Ndidi] was bad intention because I love Wilf. Overall, when there is bad intention, I think the punishment has to be different."
Jeff Winter was speaking on behalf of FreeBets.com
