Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell reacts to Marcos Alonso’s disallowed goal on Twitter
As relayed by Daily Mail, Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell showed his frustration on Twitter after teammate Marcos Alonso‘s crucial goal was disallowed by VAR.
Chelsea were 3-1 down against Real Madrid in the first leg of the fixture at Stamford Bridge but showed great fight and determination at Santiago Bernabeu yesterday night. Even though their effort wasn’t enough to get them into the next phase, the situation could have been different had Marcos Alonso’s goal stood.
Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso had a quality day out on the field in yesterday’s epic battle; he was doing it all, from putting in threatening crosses to keeping Madrid’s attackers at bay down his flank. The Spaniard’s hard work seemed to have paid off when he scored the 3rd goal for Chelsea, but it was disallowed a few moments later.
Dani Carvajal blocked Marcos Alonso’s initial attempt at goal. But the clearance from the Real Madrid full-back bounced off to the Spaniard’s hip and grazed his hands in the process before he put the ball in the top corner with his weaker right foot.
His celebration was disrupted by the referee’s VAR check, and after the conclusion from upstairs, the goal was cancelled. Even though Chelsea did take the lead in the 75th minute through Timo Werner’s strike, it wasn’t enough as Rodrygo equalized the tie on aggregate just 5 minutes later courtesy of a beautiful trivela pass from Luka Modric.
Ben Chilwell, who remains sidelined following his crucial injury in the first half of the season, took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the incident.
‘This hand ball rule…’
The context and tone of Ben Chilwell’s comment suggest that he found it difficult to understand the handball rule. His frustration is natural, considering that goal could have completed Chelsea’s epic comeback and pushed them to the next stage. However, the Chelsea full-back can’t get ahead of the rule book.
The Champions League handball rule says that if the ball touches the hand/arm area of the player, it will be considered a handball, be it deliberate or indeliberate. With all the advanced technologies, the VAR referee might have had a better look at it, but the camera angle shown on the TV screens didn’t make it clear whether the ball had touched Alonso’s hands.
The rule might sound a bit harsh, but playing the game following the directions is the right approach. The Spaniard looked dejected after the goal was ruled out but did not make a big fuss about it. Perhaps he knew he may have handled it, be it by mistake.
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Nevertheless, this is not something we can point fingers at and blame for our defeat. We took the lead in the tie through Werner but conceded very soon after that. And our failure to outplay Madrid in extra time cost us on the day.
Alonso is, of course, getting minutes on a more regular basis recently because of Ben Chilwell’s injury. But with the Englishman on the road to recovery, we can expect to see him back down that flank next season.