Chelsea news: Ex-Fifa official stunned as controversial Kai Havertz footage analysed
Keith Hackett has admitted he could not believe the assistant referee was able to spot the handball when Kai Havertz thought he had scored for Chelsea in their 4-1 loss to Brentford on Saturday (2 April).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee insisted it was good to see the officials not rely on VAR to spot the offence.
As shown on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme, Havertz, 22, thought he had scored when he met a Reece James cross.
However, the assistant, on the other side of the incident, saw him control the ball with his hand before he prodded past David Raya.
Brentford were winning 3-1 at the time and a Chelsea goal then would have left them over 25 minutes to chase an equaliser and potential winner.
Instead, Yoane Wissa scored with three minutes remaining to wrap up a famous win for the Bees over their west London rivals.
“I just couldn’t believe how good of a spot that was,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“It was just a bit of good refereeing. They were spot on.
“We’ve talked about them over-relying on VAR to bail them out but that was a really good spot.”
The loss at Stamford Bridge was Chelsea’s first in any competition since a 1-0 defeat to Man City on 15 January and the first since sanctions were imposed on the club by the UK government.
They are next in action on Wednesday (6 April) as Real Madrid visit west London for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
In other news, a club has reached an agreement in principle to sign a Chelsea 25-year-old.