'Laughable' - Chelsea fans left in disbelief & rage at 'clown ref' as Leicester somehow avoid red card for raft of rash challenges in ill-tempered clash

Four yellow cards were shown during the first half of an ill-tempered Premier League encounter between Leicester City and Chelsea at King Power Stadium on Saturday, with three going to Foxes players. In the 22nd minute, Wilfred Ndidi caught Cole Palmer on the back of the ankle, with Madley flashing a yellow card. A VAR check was then carried out on the call, but the decision remained unchanged in the end. Per TNT Sports, the reason cited by the match officials was Ndidi's challenged 'lacked intensity'. Two further Foxes stars, Boubacary Soumare and Oliver Skipp, went into the referee's book, while the Blues' Moises Caicedo picked up a card himself in the 40th minute.

During the first half, Chelsea fans were understandably frustrated with the referee's decisions and they called him out on social media.

A fan named George Benson called Ndidi's challenge disgusting as he wrote on X: "That’s a disgusting foul by Ndidi. Red card all day long the dirty prat. Need to kill Leicester off here first half. What a piss poor excuse of a Premier League team!"

Andrew Turmer called the referee's performance laughable as he wrote: "How many red cards is this clown of a ref going to let Leicester get away with? Laughable performance."

Jack Williams called the challenge 'horrific' as he wrote: "How that’s not a red for Ndidi. Horrific tackle."

A handle named Johyan expressed his frustration as his post read: "If Leicester were 1-0 up I’m almost certain the ref sends Ndidi off & possibly us that penalty (need to rewatch it) but they want to keep it competitive wherever possible for the entertainment factor."

A fan handled named CFC Central feared that the challenge could have destroyed Palmer's Achilles as their post read: "Surely a red? That's an Achilles destroying challenge from Ndidi."

Despite a physical game played out by the hosts in the first 45 minutes, the visitors took an early lead thanks to Nicolas Jackson's strike from Enzo Fernandez's assist in the 15th minute of the match. Fernandez then scored himself in the second period to make it 2-0.

After their Premier League clash at the weekend, the west London side will be back in action next week in Europe as they take on Heidenheim in a Conference League clash.