Chelsea, who struggled to deal with Burnley’s progression through the press for large parts of the first half of their Premier League encounter on Saturday afternoon, appeared to get away with a bizarre incident that should have resulted in a penalty. Robert Sanchez has long been singled out as the weak link in Enzo Maresca’s side, and he found himself at the centre of controversy yet again.
The Blues then took the lead through Pedro Neto in the 36th minute at Turf Moor, with one eye on closing the gap to league leaders Arsenal to just three points before the Gunners welcomed Tottenham to the Emirates Stadium the following day. Whether they actually deserved that opener, however, is still up for debate.
Under Scott Parker’s guidance, the Clarets found plenty of space on either flank - particularly on Marc Cucurella’s side - with Loum Tchaouna proving a constant thorn in their side. But it was an incident when they didn’t have the ball that left some viewers feeling the early relegation candidates had been robbed of a golden opportunity.
Burnley Denied Penalty After Bizarre Chelsea Incident
Robert Sanchez claps Chelsea fans
As Sanchez appeared to take his short goal-kick and pass it to Tosin Adarabioyo, the defender stopped the ball with his hand almost as if to retake it, which was missed by referee Peter Bankes and begs the question over whether a penalty kick should have been awarded. Watch the incident below:
It would have been a game-changing moment in the match, with Chelsea's subsequent goal popping the air out of Burnley for the remainder of the first period. One look at social media, and it seems almost everyone saw it as a penalty, with one X user commenting: "Burnley robbed. Clear penalty," while a second continued:
"What is the referee doing? That is the clearest handball you’ll see and it’s not even gone to VAR?"
Meanwhile, as a third wrote: "Burnley have just been robbed, they should’ve had a penalty. Sanchez literally took the goal kick," a fourth concluded: "That’s a blatant penalty to Burnley that. The keeper knows full well what he’s doing Players have been allowed to get away with that ever since Arsenal got away with it."