Tuchel agrees with the VAR decision as Chelsea trump West Ham United
Speaking to the media after Chelsea’s 2-1 win over West Ham United (h/t Football.London), Blues manager Thomas
Tuchel agreed with the VAR decision to chalk the Hammers’ equaliser off very late in the second half.
Minutes after Kai Havertz made it 2-1 to Chelsea, a Reece James’ header back to his goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was left short. Jarrod Bowen went chasing and appeared to have accidentally caught Mendy before Maxwell Cornet rifled the ball in.
The VAR then told the referee to look at the on-field monitor to decide for himself. After a few glances, the on-field referee decided that Bowen had indeed fouled Mendy, forcing the keeper to stay down.
Speaking about the decision to BBC, here’s Tuchel (h/t Football.London):
It was a clear foul on the goalkeeper. I had doubts about the first one – but I will not comment. Last time I got punished with huge fines. You give your opinion. You will not be fined.
That incident turned out to be the last meaningful action of the game, meaning the decision to rule that goal out was the match-deciding one.
If you look at in slow-motion replay, it does show that Bowen did leave his foot behind on Mendy to not let him get up and compete for the ball with Cornet. However, on real-time viewing, it looks like the West Ham man was stumbling into the Chelsea keeper, meaning he had very less control of where his foot is.
The other thing that goes against Mendy was the fact that he did not look to catch the ball that was headed back to him. So, irrespective of the challenge made by Bowen, Cornet was most definitely getting to the ball anyway.
From a West Ham viewpoint, you would understand their frustration and sheer disappointment at the decision.
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For Chelsea, it is probably a slice of luck they needed after the game against Tottenham Hotspur, where they had two VAR decisions going against them.