The reason why VAR did not rule out Tielemans’ decisive goal for handball vs Chelsea

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A Stamford Bridge Too Far

·16 May 2021

The reason why VAR did not rule out Tielemans’ decisive goal for handball vs Chelsea

The reason behind VAR not ruling out Youri Tielemans goal for handball against Chelsea

Speaking to BT Sport (h/t Metro) after the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Leicester City, former Premier League referee, Peter Walton, stated that VAR did not rule out the goal by Youri Tielemans for handball due to the time gap between the incident and the goal.

Eight-time FA Cup winners, Chelsea, were on the lookout to make it nine. But at the end of the day, it was Leicester City that emerged with their maiden FA Cup triumph.

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The margins were slender, and all it took was one goal by Youri Tielemans in the 63rd minute. The screamer, however, raised much controversy.

Ayoze Perez intercepted a ball from Reece James which then struck the Spaniard’s hand after grazing his knee. The loose ball was played into the path of Tielemans by Luke Thomas, and the rest is history.

‘VAR you kidding me?’

But immediately after the goal was scored, Chelsea players flocked around the referee and asked for the goal to be checked for handball. The goal, however, was allowed to stand.

And according to Walton, it was the right decision. He states that while the incident was subjective, VAR did not interfere because the handball did not directly and immediately lead to a goal-scoring chance.

“VAR would not have got involved in that incident because the actual goalscoring opportunity didn’t occur immediately when there was a potential handball. There was 7 seconds or so between that potential handball and the ball hitting the back of the net. That’s not immediately and the law states it’s only an offence if the goalscoring offence happens immediately, so good use of VAR.”

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VAR came back to haunt the Blues once again when Chelsea’s late equalizer was ruled out for offside. Tuchel must now focus on securing a top 4 berth before he can take his side to the Champions League final later this month.