The Premier League issued a statement following a controversial penalty awarded to Ipswich Town in their match against Chelsea on Monday night.
Ipswich took the lead when Liam Delap converted a penalty, beating Filip Jorgensen from 12 yards out.
There was considerable debate over whether the penalty should have been awarded in the first place, following a contentious on-field call by referee John Brooks. ..Continue Reading
Delap raced towards goal as Jorgensen rushed out to try and smother the ball. Jorgensen missed, and Delap appeared to go down, prompting Brooks to award the penalty.
Replays seemed to show Delap losing his balance and falling over Jorgensen with minimal contact between the two.
Nevertheless, the on-field decision was upheld after a quick VAR review, and Delap successfully converted the penalty.
The Premier League later released a statement to explain why the decision stood, despite Chelsea’s objections.
The statement read: “The referee’s call of penalty for a foul by Jorgensen on Delap was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty.”
Chelsea might feel frustrated about the decision and the limited time spent analyzing the penalty incident. VAR will only overturn decisions if there’s a ‘clear and obvious’ error by the officials.
Things worsened for Enzo Maresca’s team when VAR ruled out Joao Felix’s first-half equalizer.
The Portuguese striker had scored from a Cole Palmer cross and initially saw no flag from the assistant referee.
However, replays showed Felix had moved just slightly too early when Palmer delivered the cross, leaving VAR no choice but to disallow the goal.
A win would have placed Chelsea in second position to end 2024, as Arsenal’s next game isn’t until New Year’s Day.
But Maresca’s team needed a determined performance to secure all three points at Portman Road after falling behind.
