Chelsea beat Everton 2-0 but their win on Merseyside wasn't without incident with Morgan Rogers said to be fortunate not to be sent off

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenberg has admitted that Chelsea midfielder Morgan Rogers was fortunate not to be sent off against Everton. There was a flashpoint on the stroke of half-time when the Englishman collided with fellow countryman James Garner.

The pair went in for a 50/50 sliding tackle with both players left in a heap, Garner in particular wasn't pleased with the challenge from the former Aston Villa playmaker. Rogers had only been minutes earlier for a heated moment with Everton captain James Tarkowski after the Toffees defender barged Moises Caicedo off the ball.

The two had hold of each other's shirts and had to be separated with the referee cautioning both. Rogers is said to have been fortunate not to been sent for his marching orders in the first-half for the challenge on Garner with Clattenberg describing it as "reckless".

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He said: “This is a yellow card if it was identified by the referee. If we're analysing it, like we see it now, Rogers is very lucky not to receive a second yellow.

“What we have to remember is that VAR can't, even with the retrospective power, doesn't have the power to issue a second yellow card where the referee hasn't.

“This is a clear example, which is the frustration because Everton will argue Chelsea should be down to 10 players here, and in my opinion, should've been if the referee had seen the foul correctly.

“In the cold light of day, when you analyse this challenge, this is a clear foul and a clear reckless challenge because of the speed, there was some force and a clear contact on the knee.”

Chelsea would go on to win 2-0 thanks to a second-half brace from Pedro Neto. The Portuguese broke the deadlock immediately after the restart and rubber-stamped the points for Xabi Alonso's side.

However, experts felt that the Blues were lucky to leave Merseyside with 11 men after the challenge from Rogers. A host of ex-officials have weighed in on the debate.

Dermot Gallagher agreed with Clattenberg that Rogers was 'lucky'. He said on Sky Sports: "He's lucky the referee didn't give a free kick. If you look at the outcome, the referee plays on. Because he does that, the dilemma then for VAR is whether it's a second yellow, but he can't go for that.

"Is it enough for a red? That's his [VAR's] balance. If the referee hasn't given a foul, it takes the VAR out of the equation. I think it's on the threshold [of a straight red card] and once it's there, that's the dilemma of this second yellow card.

"There is a damning angle where you see him leap into it, so that alone would send warning bells into the referee's head. But the referee chose to play on. He didn't think it was a foul."

Mike Dean, another former Premier League referee, said: "I think it’s a minimum yellow. I called red straight away.

"When you see the angle we've seen now, he doesn't get the ball, Rogers. He might've just flicked it, but he catches him with his stud just on the inside of Garner's knee.

"I think it's a straight red me, I really do. I just think it's not a good tackle at all."

Everton manager David Moyes was left particularly incandescent after the challenge, more so after he felt Harrison Armstrong was harshly penalised and booked for a foul on Josh Acheampong.

The Scot said: "If our football in this country is not going to allow them (Armstrong's challenge on Josh Acheampong) then I don’t know. We’ve got referees who we want to be the best in Europe, or think they’re the best, because they let things go.

"I thought it looked a half-decent tackle. Maybe somebody might tell me I’m wrong or tell me differently, but I wasn’t sure that it was the right decision.

"I was disappointed with the decision at the time. I had a wee look at the Morgan Rogers tackle on Jimmy (Garner), which, maybe some might have said something different, and I think that might have made a second yellow, it wasn’t the case.”