Chelsea took on West Ham United in the Premier League on Monday night and needed a little luck from the officials to get themselves level after falling behind. Former Blues boss Graham Potter was making his return to Stamford Bridge after being axed by the club in April 2023 and he would have been frustrated by one key moment.
Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring in the first half with a smart finish when inadvertently put through on goal by a poor back pass from Levi Colwil. That was enough to see the Hammers lead 1-0 at the break.
Not long after the hour mark, though, Pedro Neto fired in an equaliser. However, replays showed a possible offside in the build-up. Marc Guiu attempted to header the initial cross, and may have touched the ball as it found Marc Cucurella at the back post. The Spaniard was certainly offside as he kept the attack alive, finding Enzo Fernandez in the box, with his deflected shot falling to Neto who finally found the back of the net.
VAR checked the incident, and after a lengthy stoppage in play, the call was to allow the goal to stand. As explained by the Premier League Match Centre on X, the officials decided there was ‘no factual evidence’ of a touch from Guiu in the build-up:
“The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by the VAR as there was no factual evidence that Guiu made contact with the ball in the build-up, therefore there was no offside offence.”
One fan on social media wrote: “That surely has to be offside twice? Plus potentially a foul on Bowen in the buildup. How on earth has that goal stood?”
Another added: “Ridiculous!” One also noted: “Obvious foul on Bowen in the build-up to the goal and then the offside not given. Robbed again.”
To add insult to injury, just 10 minutes later, Cole Palmer’s deflected effort – going down as an Aaron Wan-Bissaka own goal – gave Chelsea a 2-1 lead. That was enough to seal all three points as the home team club on to win the match by a single goal.
