Mike Dean admits he got decision wrong over Cristian Romero’s hair pull on Marc Cucurella

Mike Dean has admitted that he got his decision wrong when looking at the incident which involved Cristian Romero pulling on the hair of Marc Cucurella. 

The fiery London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday was filled with controversy. 

Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte came to blows not once but twice and both were shown a red card after the final whistle by referee Anthony Taylor. 

However, one incident went unpunished which caused a wave of heavy criticism. Prior to Harry Kane’s last gasp equaliser for Spurs, defender Romero was seen pulling back the hair of Chelsea new boy Cucurella. 

Romero got away with it as VAR had a look and decided it did not warrant a second viewing from on field referee, Taylor. 

Chelsea boss Tuchel was very critical of the officiating after the match. 

He said: “Since when can we pull hair on the football field? Is that a new rule that we pull hair and get away with it and then next corner is played? It’s a red card.” 

VAR official on the day, Dean has spoken honesty about that decision. 

Dean wrote in his Daily Mail column: “Sometimes in hindsight, you realise you could have acted differently. I’ve now had time to reflect on Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge. 

“I asked referee Anthony Taylor to wait while I looked at the incident involving Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella.

“I could not award a free-kick as VAR, but I could recommend to Taylor that he visit the referee review area to consider a possible red card. In the few seconds I had to study Romero pulling Cucurella’s hair, I didn’t deem it a violent act.”

Dean went on to say he should have asked Taylor to have a second look for a potential sending off. 

He continued: “I’ve since studied the footage, spoken to other referees and, upon reflection, I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitch side monitor to take a look for himself.

“The referee on field always has the final say. It goes to show that no matter how experienced you are, and I’ve spent more than two decades as a Premier League official, you are always learning.”

As a result of his howler, Dean has been dropped for the next round of Premier League matches.