Jamie O’Hara did not hold back on his assessment of Cristian Romero, calling the Argentine an ‘idiot’ for the challenge he made on Enzo Fernandez, which led to his sending off.
Tottenham were dominating proceedings until Romero’s moment of madness just past the half-hour mark, with the centre-back catching Fernandez on his follow-through after making a tackle inside the box.
The 25-year-old had kicked out at Levi Colwill just minutes before and got away with it but he was not spared by Michael Oliver on this occasion, with the referee giving the Spurs star his marching orders after re-watching the tackle on the touchline monitor.
The Blues drew level from the resultant penalty and things got even bleaker for the home side ten minutes into the second half as Destiny Udogie was also sent off after a second yellow card offence.
Cristian Romero let Tottenham down last night
While Ange Postecoglou’s men gave a great account of themselves with nine men, Chelsea punished them on the counter-attack late on, eventually emerging with a 4-1 win.
Speaking about Romero’s tackle on Fernandez, Carlton Cole said on talkSPORT YouTube (8:30 pm, November 6, 2023): “That’s disgusting. No one wants to see football like that.”
Jamie O’Hara responded: “You stupid idiot! It’s a red. He’s an idiot, he’s an idiot. It sums him up. It sums him up. Now get off the pitch. Get off the pitch, idiot. You played like a child.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I strongly disagree with those who are suggesting that a red card for Romero was harsh since he got the ball. The Argentine was the clear favourite to win the ball and he could have easily made a tackle without needing to follow through in that manner.
The 25-year-old knew exactly what he was doing and wanted to leave one on Fernandez on the follow-through. In fact, Romero was quite lucky just minutes prior to that incident as he could have been sent off for kicking out at Colwill had VAR asked Oliver to re-watch that incident.