Mauricio Pochettino slams VAR as ‘damaging English football’ after Chelsea winner ruled out

Chelsea’s manager was left incensed Badiashile’s was ruled a foul

Mauricio Pochettino insisted VAR has damaged English football during a furious rant after his Chelsea team were denied a stoppage-time winner at Villa Park.

Robin Olsen’s own goal looked to have completed a stunning comeback but video-referee Chris Kavanagh instructed Craig Pawson to look at his pitchside monitor for a shove by Benoit Badiashile on Diego Carlos.

Pawson had given the goal before VAR’s intervention, angering Pochettino and his players who confronted him after the final whistle of the 2-2 draw.

“Everyone that was watching the game felt disappointed,” said Pochettino. “We need to explain this to the people. In this situation it is really painful as it has damaged English football, the image, and even Aston Villa players and the fans didn’t understand why.

“When the referee doesn’t see anything and changes the decision of the referee, I don’t want to talk bad about the referee but it is unbelievable, it’s ridiculous. It is difficult to accept this type of thing.

“It was a challenge that happens many times in football. I was disappointed because these three points were massive to get into the Europa League, that is why it is painful.”

Pochettino confirmed he spoke with Pawson after the final whistle to get an explanation.

“He said it was a foul and if you see the challenge, it is a challenge,” Pochettino said. “If every single challenge like this is a foul we won’t finish with 11 players in any game. We can talk about performance and decisions but these types of decisions are damaging the game. I am relaxed. What can we do?”

Chelsea’s comeback, after Marc Cucurella’s own goal and Morgan Rogers established a lead, dented Villa’s march towards the Champions League. Victory would have given them a nine-point cushion on fifth-placed Tottenham. But their lead is only seven points and Spurs have three games in hand.

They sat off Chelsea and in the second half Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher levelled for the visitors.

“The performance was really good and we played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded two goals so softly but the team in the second half didn’t concede much and to come here and play against a team full of confidence and fighting for the top four, I was very pleased with the performance and the players were so good,” added Pochettino.

Gallagher, who scored a spectacular goal with his weaker left foot, added: “We had chances to win and I think we showed great character in the second half. We can hold our heads high and take a lot of confidence from it.

“We want to improve and get better as a team, we are still on a journey and nowhere where we want to be, there is a lot of work to be done but the second half was great.”

Chelsea should look elsewhere for someone to blame

Chelsea have absolutely no right to complain about their third goal being ruled out. There was a clear push in the back by Benoit Badiashile before he made the cross that led to the goal.

It was a blatant foul and I am rather surprised that referee Craig Pawson did not spot it immediately. Nevertheless, the VAR Chris Kavanagh did the right thing and intervened, ultimately leading to the right decision being made. This was an example of VAR working effectively, as it cannot be argued the action’s of Badiashile did not contribute to the goal.

Pawson, who agreed to overturn his initial call, delivered his strongest performance of the season at Villa Park with decision making of the highest standard consistently throughout the match.

Mauricio Pochettino and his players should look elsewhere than the officials for someone to blame.

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