Peter Bankes was in charge at Turf Moor.placeholder image
Peter Bankes was in charge at Turf Moor. | Getty Images
Enzo Maresca saw his Chelsea side pick up three points against Burnley but there may have been a touch of luck to the result.
Chelsea pushed themselves up to second in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime with a 2-0 victory over strugglers Burnley at Turf Moor but Enzo Maresca’s side were perhaps lucky not to see the game take a different direction early on.
The Blues took the lead through a diving Pedro Neto header in the 37th minute before Enzo Fernandez secured all three points with a late strike in the 88th minute. The Clarets were well organised but it was fairly plain sailing for the London outfit.
However, Scott Parker will feel annoyed that his Burnley side were not awarded a penalty halfway through the first half and would be right to hold a grudge. That incident involved Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and defender Trevoh Chalobah.
Chelsea survive penalty scare at Turf Moor
It looked as if the two Blues players suffered a miscommunication as Sanchez appeared to take the goal kick, only for Chalobah to stop the ball with his hand to take the goal kick himself, gesturing that Burnley striker Zian Flemming had encroached inside the box - something that replays showed was not the case.
Speaking on TNT Sports at half time, former Premier League defender Joleon Lescott said: “I think if it’s given no one is asking any questions. What has saved Chelsea here is Sanchez doesn’t have his hand on the ball in the six-yard box, which doesn’t indicate it’s a fresh restart. The referee has allowed Chalobah to make that decision. The referee lets the play on rather than restart it. The referee can and can’t get it wrong - he’s going to get it wrong for one team.”
In the FA rules, it is Law 16 that directs how a goal kick is taken. The ‘Procedure’ states that “the ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves” with no reference to the use of a hand. This is why Chelsea can feel lucky, and Burnley annoyed.
Aston Villa penalised for Mings handball
The way Sanchez passed the ball to Chalobah was not casual and looked decisive. His movement afterwards suggested that he believed the ball to be in play. That interpretation of body language is up to referee Peter Bankes, but many Clarets supporters won’t have interpreted it in the same way and wanted a penalty.
There is precedent to the situation too. A year ago, Aston Villa saw a penalty given against them for a similar infringement. Goalkeeper Emi Martinez had passed the ball to defender Tyrone Mings, with the latter picking it up.
Referee Tobias Stieler deemed the kick to have been taken by Sanchez and, therefore, Mings was penalised for a handball. Villains manager Unai Emery labelled it ‘the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career’.
In other news, New Premier League supercomputer predicts Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Crystal Palace and West Ham final points.
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