After their win over Arsenal, Frank Lampard admitted Chelsea rode their luck and that Jorginho probably should have seen red for a second yellow.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 29: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta of reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC at Emirates Stadium on December 29, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 29: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta of reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC at Emirates Stadium on December 29, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Craig Pawson booked Lucas Torreira for a pullback. He booked Ainsley Maitland-Niles for one, too. He’d even booked N’Golo Kante for holding in the 30th minute before booking either of the Arsenal players but, for some reason known only to him, he decided not to book Jorginho, already on a yellow, for the exact same offence.

It was a textbook pull-back designed to stop Arsenal breaking and in every football game around the globe, it is a yellow card without argument. It’s such a common yellow it’s even called ‘taking one for the team’.

Instead, Pawson booked Alexandre Lacazette for dissent.

Arsenal's French striker Alexandre Lacazette (2R) is shown a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 29, 2019. (Photo by Ian KINGTON / IKIMAGES / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by IAN KINGTON/IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)
Alexandre Lacazette is shown a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 29, 2019. (Photo by Ian KINGTON / IKIMAGES / AFP)

So, of course it came as no surprise that it was Jorginho who won the freekick from which Chelsea equalised and it was Jorginho at the far post, free and ready to pounce on Bernd Leno’s error.

“It certainly could have been a second yellow,” Lampard said after the game. “We might have struck a bit of luck with that one. But there have been times when I’ll moan about not getting luck in other games and I don’t think it was absolutely clear-cut [Edit – it absolutely was as you can see below].

Daily Telegraph 30 December 2019
Daily Telegraph 30 December 2019

“Maybe you make your own luck sometimes. I think with the way we played, the way Jorginho played, he was a big catalyst for the change.”

Chelsea mostly made their own luck by rotationally fouling the entire Arsenal team and picking up only four yellows throughout the game – less than the number shown to Arsenal (5) as the referee set about robbing Mikel Arteta of all three points.