Gary Neville calls out 'ludicrous' Chelsea star and demands Xabi Alonso action

Chelsea fell to a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday night with a major brawl breaking out midway through the second half

Gary Neville claimed Morgan Rogers should've been sent off for a "ludicrous" challenge during Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham.

The midfielder earned a yellow card in extra time of the match for swiping Conor Gallagher down. Referee Chris Kavanagh booked the 24-year-old but Neville believed the sanction wasn't enough.

While on Sky Sports commentary duties, the ex-Manchester United defender said: "I think that's a red. I do. He's absolutely wellied him with no intent. That's ludicrous from Rogers."

Neville also called for the Chelsea boss to get a grip on his players, adding: "They have lost it. Xabi Alonso needs to get them off."

The Blues slumped to a 2-0 defeat against their London rivals at Stamford Bridge to hand Spurs their first win at the ground since 2018. Young goalkeeper Mike Penders punched the ball into his own net to hand the away team a precious lead before Mathys Tel struck from outside the box to secure all three points.

In between the two goals, Cole Palmer was sent off after picking up two bookings, but Neville also believed the midfielder was lucky not to receive a straight red. For his first yellow card, the 24-year-old barged into Mateus Fernandes on the floor and knocked him over as the Spurs player attempted to stand up.

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It was this moment that sparked a 14-man brawl between the two London clubs and saw Conor Gallagher, Micky van de Ven, Fernandes and Palmer all booked. Neville believed the latter was lucky not to see red as he said: "Palmer's reaction was silly.

"He's asking for trouble, that's not great. He's asking for trouble. That's not great from Cole Palmer. No idea why he's doing that. He was no doubt [sailing close to the wind]. I think that could be a red. Into the chest you'll get away with it but Fernandes is on the ground. He's got no way to defend himself. It's a stupid thing to do."

Following the loss, Alonso admitted he wants his Chelsea team to focus on emotional control and confirmed he will discuss the sending off with Palmer internally. He said: "Yes we need to work and we need to improve on that. I think we spoke yesterday about those things and to know that in those situations that one first yellow card can be decisive as we have seen, it is a process of the maturity of the team and of the individual players as well.

"We think [up until] now we haven't received any red card and we need to continue that way because we need to have this maturity to deal with difficult moments, when you have conceded 1-0, still probably was 15-20 minutes to go, so we have to be on the way. I need to check the action to talk with Cole but it is one to learn for the future for sure."