Chelsea saw Premier League points snatched from their hands late on once again at Stamford Bridge on Saturday with Sunderland claiming a 2-1 win in the 93rd minute.
The Black Cats, who were only promoted from the Championship last season, have got off to a flying start this term. Chelsea took the lead after four minutes this weekend but a 22nd minute Wilson Isidor strike pulled Sunderland back into the match before Chemsdine Talbi found the injury time winner.
However, former Premier League referee and ex PGMOL chief Keith Hackett does not believe that Regis Le Bris’ side should have seen the goal stand. Brian Brobbey had held the ball up superbly before setting up Talbi but replays showed Sunderland player Lutsharel Geertruida near Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in an offside position.
Keith Hackett explains why Sunderland goal should have been disallowed
VAR did check the goal but the Dutchman was not deemed to be interfering with play. Hackett cited Law 11 of the IFAB rules as a reason why Sunderland should have seem the goal disallowed. That rule states that a player is deemed to be interfering with an opponent if they “prevent an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision.”
Hackett told Football Insider: “While I don’t like to see goals ruled out for offside, I am surprised the referee wasn’t asked to review the incident on the pitchside monitor. In my opinion, the Sunderland player standing in an offside position impacts the Chelsea goalkeeper, and the goal should have been ruled out.
“The offside law states: ‘interfering with an opponent by preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision.’ It is my belief that the Sunderland player standing in an offside position does impact on the Chelsea goalkeeper, and the goal should be ruled out for an offside offence.”
Enzo Maresca blames Chelsea defensive frailties
It was Sunderland’s first win at Stamford Bridge since 2014 and lifted the North East outfit to second in the Premier League with an impressive 17 points in nine matches. Speaking after the game, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca blamed his team’s defending rather than the potential offside.
He said: “When you are not good enough in the Premier League, you know the consequences. I’ve said already, when you are not able to win it is important that you do not lose. The second goal is not a transition, it’s a long ball in behind where we have 2-v-1. We do not defend properly. The first goal comes from a throw in but it is difficult, they bring six or seven inside your six-yard box. Overall, we were not good enough.
“It can be an easy situation because it is 2-v-1 and the striker is facing his own goal, probably we are trying to manage the situation because it is 92,93 minutes because we have to do better. We struggled to create chances, a lack of creativity. We didn’t create a lot, we lost some duels and second balls at 1-0 and against this team, we need to do better. When we arrive in certain areas of the pitch, we cross because we expect to have four or five players inside the box but today when we cross, probably the quality of the cross was not the best one.”
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