Leeds United 3 Chelsea 1: Lee Sobot's video verdict
There were some Chelsea protests after Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored Leeds United’s third goal.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal against Chelsea was right to be allowed despite angry protests from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Calvert-Lewin scored the last of four goals at Elland Road on Wednesday night as Leeds beat Chelsea 3-1. The former Everton striker couldn’t have asked for an easier finish on 72 minutes, tapping in from all of one yard after substitute Noah Okafor chased down two opponents.
Okafor hunted down Tosin Aradabioyo whose weak pass towards his goalkeeper handed the Leeds winger a chance to pounce, sliding in to poke the ball under Sanchez and into the path of Calvert-Lewin. The 28-year-old gratefully tapped in to notch his third Premier League goal of the season.
As Leeds reeled off to celebrate restoring their two-goal lead, Sanchez furiously pleaded with referee Darren England to award a foul. But former top-flight official Gallagher saw no issue whatsoever with Okafor’s challenge.
“I think this is really, really good refereeing because when you see it, he goes into the goalkeeper, he definitely catches the goalkeeper but if you look, he definitely gets the ball first,” Gallagher told Sky Sports Ref Watch. “There's going to be a collision.
“He gets the ball, the goalkeeper gets him as well, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has the easiest goal he’ll ever score but not a foul. It was rightly identified by the referee.”
Mike Dean’s verdict on Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal
VAR did review the incident while Leeds celebrated and Sanchez protested, eventually confirming England’s initial decision that there was no foul on Sanchez. And Gallagher’s former colleague Mike Dean reviewed the incident shortly after it happened on Sky Sports Soccer Special.
“Oh yeah, there’s nothing wrong with it,” Dean said at the time. “The attacker played the ball into the goalkeeper. They were checking for a possible offside, and that was the on-field decision, that there was no offside. So perfect goal, perfect goal.”
Calvert-Lewin’s goal restored some calm inside Elland Road, which had become a little nervous after Leeds’ initial two-goal lead was halved. The Whites were 2-0 up at half-time courtesy of Bijol and Tanaka, while Lukas Nmecha had a great chance to make it three seconds after the break.
Read More
But when substitute Pedro Neto squeezed an effort in at Lucas Perri’s near post, Chelsea looked to have grabbed a hold of the game. Leeds rallied, however, and avoided being put under too much pressure, defending well and still offering their fair share of threat in attack.
Calvert-Lewin’s tap in knocked any remaining air out of Chelsea and set Leeds well on their way to a massive victory. Three points has pulled them out of the relegation zone for today at least, with West Ham’s game in hand coming at Manchester United this evening.
The Whites have another quick turnaround but are back at home again and will hope for a similarly direct approach when they face a vulnerable Liverpool. The Merseyside club drew 1-1 at home to Sunderland on Wednesday and have won just two of their last nine Premier League games.
Continue Reading