Should Chelsea have been awarded (another) penalty against Brighton this evening?
The Blues have had the rub of the green when it comes to winning penalties in recent weeks, with Jorginho having scored a highly unsustainable five goals from the spot in his last four appearances.
The Italian’s eyes will have lit up as Christian Pulisic hit the deck inside the penalty area against Brighton tonight, especially considering Joel Veltman appeared to give him a kick on the ankles.
However, even after a VAR review, the decision was made NOT to award Chelsea a penalty. That decision has not aged well, with every replay making it look more and more like a stonewall penalty.
lmao how is that not a pen?? FOH pic.twitter.com/9CDE5cZWeH
— amadí (@amadoit__) December 29, 2021
MORE: (Video) Romelu Lukaku survives VAR review to give Chelsea the lead over Brighton at the Bridge
Perhaps Pulisic went down more theatrically than the officials would have deemed necessary, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a foul. The kick from Veltman made contact with the shin, not the ball.
You wonder if the sheer amount of penalties that have been awarded to Chelsea in recent weeks has been playing on the minds of the officials. It definitely shouldn’t – but what other justification is there for not giving this?