Crystal Palace fans chanted ‘it’s not football anymore’ after Eberechi Eze was denied what could have been his last-ever goal for the club when a niche law saw his ferocious free-kick disallowed.
With Tottenham Hotspur pushing to sign the 27-year-old – so hard that he was in and out of Palace’s travelling squad over the weekend – Eze looked like he had shown why he is worth his £55million valuation.
It was a scorching strike and one which bamboozled Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, but it was then that Law 13 was taken into account by the referee, Darren England, after a VAR alert.
Marc Guehi was judged to have been standing within a metre of Chelsea’s defending wall.
Technically, it was the correct call as per the rulebook. However, this was hardly a law that has been consistently enforced ever since its introduction in the Premier League in 2019.
Already disillusioned after being demoted to the Conference League from the Europa League by UEFA, this did little to dissuade Palace supporters from thinking the game is against them.
Eberechi Eze shows why he is worth his £55million price tag during Sunday’s draw at Chelsea
Eze’s performance could leave Arsenal regretting cooling their interest in signing him
The Palace star thought he had opened the scoring with a free-kick before it was disallowed
They were quick to find footage showing how Reece James’ free-kick against Bournemouth at this very stadium last season should likewise have been disallowed because of Law 13. Marc Cucurella was practically touching the Cherries wall while stood next to Tosin Adarabioyo.
As Palace defender Chris Richards said afterwards: ‘Everyone in the stadium thought it was a goal but you live and die by VAR and we died from it.’
Manager Oliver Glasner added on Eze: ‘Eberechi should have scored a goal. He had one and it was disallowed. He will come to the Crystal Palace training ground on Monday, Tuesday off, we take Wednesday and I expect him to be back playing for us against Fredrikstad (in the Conference League play-off first leg on Thursday).’
Because of the decision, Eze missed out on his potential fond farewell, though did show in his overall performance why Arsenal could regret cooling their interest in him if Spurs make him their next £55m signing.
When substituted in the 84th minute, Eze took a moment to turn to the away end as he walked towards the touchline. The supporters showed their appreciation for a player who was signed for £19.5m from Queens Park Rangers in 2020.
