‘Please be aware’ – Ex-refs chief drops intriguing Darren England claim after re-analysing Chelsea vs Crystal Palace controversy
Keith Hackett has provided his instant reaction to the incident that led to Chelsea’s penalty against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Chelsea beat Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park, after a game that involved plenty of controversial moments.
The Blues quickly took the lead in the first half through Estevao before Joao Pedro doubled the advantage with a well-taken strike.
A chaotic second half saw Enzo Fernandez score from the spot after a lengthy check, Adam Wharton sent off for a second yellow card, and Chris Richards find a late consolation.
Liam Rosenior arrived at Chelsea earlier this month, and has now led his team to four wins from his opening five games.
Law explained after Chelsea penalty vs Crystal Palace
There is a lot of excitement about Jaydee Canvot at Palace, but the young defender had a horror show on Sunday.
The 19-year-old’s poor pass back found Estevao through on goal to hand Chelsea the lead, and he was playing Pedro onside for the second.
Canvot must have thought that his day could not get much worse, but then the VAR, Matt Donohue, interrupted to send Darren England to the screen to look at a potential handball.
The Frenchman had blocked Pedro’s shot off the line with a combination of his side, shoulder and arm, which was tucked in closely to his body.
After a lengthy discussion at the screen between England and the VAR, the referee awarded a penalty, and explained that a red card was not awarded due to the handball having been “accidental”.
Handball law:
- It is an offence if a player: Deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball.
- Touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation.
- By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised.
- Scores in the opponents’ goal: directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper or immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.
Keith Hackett provides thoughts on penalty decision
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former PGMOL chief Hackett said: “So frankly, looking at this decision, I believe that this defender has attempted to withdraw his arm to avoid it hitting his arm.
“I do not believe this action is deliberate and that an offence has been committed. You will see how much subjectivity there is in these handball decisions.
“Please be aware that this Referee Darren England was the VAR yesterday [Saturday] involved in the handball decision which the referee decided not to accept England’s view in handball.”
In the incident which Hackett refers to, Farai Hallam decided against giving Man City a penalty against Wolves, despite having been advised to do so by England.