Former Blues midfielder and now pundit Joe Cole has disagreed with ex-referee Peter Walton on Marcos Alonso's disallowed goal as Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.
The left-back put in an inspired performance against the club that sold him to Bolton Wanderers back in 2010. His solid performance in keeping Federico Valverde at bay coupled with his attacking adventures was rewarded with a third goal netted in the 62nd minute. After much celebrations, VAR stepped in and had spotted a handball in the process of the Spaniard's dribble being deflected onto his hand before he smashed home past Thibaut Courtois.
Many Chelsea fans were not initially fearing VAR intervention after seeing nothing wrong, but after the commentators highlighted the VAR check, the hearts of many sunk. After a short deliberation with referee Szymon Marciniak, the goal was disallowed to the fury of Chelsea fans on social media and manager Thomas Tuchel, who ranted about his decisions and the other referee calls over the two legs.
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"Not only today...it is like this. Maybe I get myself into a problem. But if you play Real Madrid, you cannot expect that everyone has the courage [to make decisions]. I also felt the little decisions in the first leg and the second leg today," Tuchel said in his post-match press conference.
"I did not see the goal, but I told him that I was super disappointed that he does not come out and check it on his own. In a match like this where you have a certain line to whistle, you should stay the boss and not give decisions like this to somebody in a chair who is isolated from the atmosphere and from the way how a referee - he has a certain style and certain things that he allows and does not allow, and he follows a certain line - so I think he should stay in charge and check it on his own then he could also explain it better.
"It is just my opinion. I thought we deserved more minutes in the end because it felt like we had no minutes to play in the second half of the extra time. Maybe it is too much to ask for in matches like this against this opponent. We had it in our hands, and we were not lucky enough. It is like this."
Despite stating that by the rules, the goal should have been disallowed, former Premier League referee Peter Walton did not believe there was enough evidence on this occasion for VAR to overturn the on-field decision.
"The rules is if it hits the attacker's hand, whether it's accidental or not, the goal will be disallowed," he stated. "I can't see any evidence for this to be overturned." Cole then had his say on the incident after the match, and seemed to counteract Walton's point about there being evidence by solely basing his argument on what the rule book says.
"I don’t like this rule as well and it was incredibly frustrating for me, but the rules are the rules," the ex-Chelsea man said on BT Sport 2. Steve McManaman, who was on commentary during the full 120 minutes, then weighed in with his take on the situation: "Listen, I dislike this rule as much as all the Chelsea fans who will be upset about it, but without a shadow of a doubt, when it brushes his right hand, I said it was going to be disallowed because the laws of the game suggest that it should not stand. I hate this rule, and particularly, in a game of this magnitude."
Chelsea fans- should Marcos Alonso's goal have stood last night? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!
