Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has now given his opinion on whether Chelsea should feel hard done by they didn’t walk away with all three points against Aston Villa.
He told Sky Sports whether he thinks Axel Disasi’s late header should have counted after it was struck off by VAR.
In what was a spirited second half under Mauricio Pochettino, the Blues thought they had turned around a two-goal deficit when Disasi crashed a header in off the crossbar.
Axel Disasi goal ruled out by VAR
However, after watching the incident again, the referees decided Benoit Badiashile had committed a foul in the build-up to the goal.
The manager was fuming with the decision after the game, however Gallagher has now claimed that he thinks the right decision had been made.
Gallagher believes Disasi goal should have been disallowed
He said: “I thought it was a foul at the time. I thought a foul would be given and I was surprised it wasn’t. When the goal went in, I was confident VAR would pick it up.
“If the players are side by side and he goes with his shoulder, that’s OK. But the player’s [Badiashile] behind him and he goes into his back. The ball’s not in picture and the law says that if you’re going to chare somebody, the ball’s got to be playable.
“I think he decides wrongly that it’s not a foul. It’s clear and obvious. We’ve got a referee and we’ve got a VAR, so we’ve got different tolerance levels. Craig Pawson doesn’t think that was a foul but I do, so if I was the VAR, I would alert you to go to the screen. He can go to the screen and hold his ground.”
The boss, as well as most of the Chelsea fanbase, will have had the feeling that they were due some luck in this department, after seeing multiple decisions go against them in key moments this season.
Pochettino in particular will have been cursing his luck, with him finding himself under pressure in his role as manager right now.
It is expected that the Blues will need to qualify for Europe for next season for him to keep his job, and two points dropped in controversial fashion will certainly not have done their chances any good.
All they can now do is look to the next game, with the small matter of a London derby against a Tottenham side who will also be angered by decisions that went against them this weekend in their defeat to Arsenal.
Related Topics
