'It's not a foul': Gary Neville accuses Chelsea's Thiago Silva of 'conning the ref' as Harry Kane has a goal chalked off for a push on the Brazilian defender at Stamford Bridge

There were no official goals in the first half of Chelsea’s home clash with Tottenham on Sunday, but there were no shortage of controversial incidents at Stamford Bridge.

The most debatable moment arrived five minutes before the break when Harry Kane thought he had given Tottenham the lead, only to have his effort ruled out by referee Paul Tierney.

With Ryan Sessegnon bursting down the wing, Kane was left in a foot race with Thiago Silva inside the penalty area. Sessegnon squared the ball and Kane turned and finished past Kepa Arrizabalaga, while Silva was left on the floor.

Harry Kane was adjudged to have pushed Thiago Silva before putting the ball in the net

Kane was furious with the referee for disallowing his first half strike at Stamford Bridge

Tierney immediately blew up, adjudging that Kane had pushed the defender to the ground to earn himself some space in the box.

Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville was not convinced by the call initially, and after seeing the replay he was adamant that Kane had been unlucky to be penalised. 

‘It’s not a foul,’ he insisted. ‘Thiago Silva’s conned the ref there.’

Silva certainly made it clear that he felt he’d been fouled by falling to the ground with his arms up in the air.

Reflecting on the incident at half time, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp admitted that Silva had used his experience to get the decision in his favour.

Thiago Silva made the most of the push by Kane, but managed to get the decision in his favour

Gary Neville believed Kane’s goal should have stood and that Silva exaggerated the contact

‘It’s theatrical, it’s clever,’ he said.

However, fellow pundits Roy Keane and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink believed that there was enough of a touch from Kane to send Silva over, and argued that Tierney had made the right decision.

‘Gary’s wrong. At the time I thought it was a goal but he just does lean into him and when you’re 37 you’re probably going down. At that pace it’s just a little touch, all you need,’ said Keane.

Hasselbaink added: ‘He gives him a little nudge and it’s enough for Thiago.’