Southampton vs Chelsea: Jack Stephens sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair

Southampton defender Jack Stephens got a straight red card for pulling Chelsea’s hair Marc Cucurella in the opening half of their Premier League game on Wednesday.

Bottom of the standings, Southampton were 3-1 down when Stephens was fouled as players gathered in the area for a corner and, after referee Tony Harrington took a look at the VAR screen, they were down to 10 men.

Cucurella is no stranger to having his long hair pulled, although the perpetrator has not always been punished. In 2022, Christian Romero from Tottenham Hotspur committed the same offense on the Chelsea defender but escaped a red card.

The video assistant referee that day, Mike Dean, later admitted he had made a mistake by not asking the referee to look.