Well that’s a new one.
Brentford striker Neal Maupay picked up one of the strangest yellow cards you might ever see during his team’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It’s no secret that Chelsea are going through a turbulent time, but after an impressive display against Arsenal last week, that saw them get a 2-2 draw with lots of positives to take from it, many thought they had turned a corner.
However, despite having the majority of possession and the majority of chances, especially in the first half, Brentford were able to hold strong defensively and then take their chances when they arrived.
Ethan Pinnock’s header on the 58th minute gave the away side something to hold on too, and although The Blues upped the pressure and chased the game desperately from there on, they were unable to find the net.
Then deep in injury time, with only minutes left on the clock, a Chelsea’s keeper Roberto Sanchez went into the opposition box for a corner, only for Brentford to win the ball, break at pace, and Bryan Mbeumo was able to slot the ball home.
Neal Maupay was the first player to be booked in the Chelsea vs Brentford game for this 🙊
He wasn't even on the pitch… pic.twitter.com/9TLRTSo0dQ
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 28, 2023
Before any of this chaos unfolded, a rather bizarre incident occurred as Maupay picked up a yellow card before he had even stepped onto the pitch.
The striker who was a substitute and was performing his warm up on the sideline managed to get himself into the referee’s notebook before he had even kicked a ball.
Although that maybe isn’t technically true because while Chelsea were preparing to take a free kick, Maupay was skipping along the line and tapped the bay with his foot, resulting in it being pushed forward, much to the annoyance of the home side.
Referee Simon Hooper was in no mood to consider the harmlessness of Maupay’s actions and was quick to reach for his cards, thus resulting in one of the weirder bookings we have seen in the Premier League.
The substitute had the last laugh however, because it was him who broke free from that last Chelsea corner and squared it to Mbeumo for the deciding goal in the end.
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