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Robert Sanchez will miss Chelsea's Carabao Cup clash with Lincoln City on Tuesday evening as a result of picking up a straight red card against Manchester United.
The Spain shot-stopper managed just 10 minutes in the Blues' Premier League match against the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. before he was shown an early exit for a late challenge on Bryan Mbeumo.
United's forward was clean through on goal when he was taken out by Sanchez on the edge of the area, resulting in a straight red for the Spaniard.
Speaking about that decision on commentary duties for Sky Sports, Alan Smith said: "There was two Chelsea defenders chasing back, it was two against one in Chelsea's favour and the referee still feels that is an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
"It is a big, big call. It is certainly a foul, he was late on the scene, a poor challenge.
"It is always a subjective decision that one. I don't think VAR are going to go against the ref on that occasion."
The Premier League also quickly confirmed that Sanchez was dismissed for denying a goal-scoring opportunity - rather than for serious foul play - cutting down his match ban to just one game instead of three.
The red card means that the goalkeeper will now be unavailable for Chelsea's Carabao Cup game with Lincoln, which is scheduled for Tuesday, September 22 at Sincil Bank.
It is unknown as to whether Sanchez would have been deployed for the fixture, given his commitments to the Premier League and Europe. However, Maresca will not have the choice to use him.
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