Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino expressed strong criticism of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system following his team’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Despite falling two goals behind in the first half, Chelsea managed to mount a comeback in the second half to level the score.
However, their hopes of securing a late victory were dashed when Axel Disasi’s goal, which would have potentially been the winner, was disallowed after VAR intervention.
Pochettino voiced his frustration with the decision, claiming that it is damaging to English football.
However, the result leaves Chelsea in 9th place with 48 points.
In his post-match comments, Pochettino stated, “Two different things: the referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal and then went to the VAR to confirm.
“The referee is unbelievable and it’s ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things; in the semi-final [FA Cup against Man City] two weeks ago it was handball and it was no penalty; the referee, he didn’t check it.
“It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn’t understand why the goal was disallowed.
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“They said it was foul and if you see the challenge, what happens if we go into every single challenge like this, it is going to be a foul and we wouldn’t finish the game with 11 [players].
“We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game,” he added.
