Eberechi Eze had his powerful free-kick ruled out by an unusual law following a VAR check as Crystal Palace held Chelsea to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
Eze, who started despite being linked with Tottenham, thought he had given Palace the lead in the 13th minute when he blasted a free-kick past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
However, the VAR James Bell spotted that Palace captain Marc Guehi had pushed Moises Caicedo to create a gap for the ball to fly through and, in doing so, had moved too close to the Chelsea wall when the ball was struck.
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Eze decision disallowed and referee Darren England explains.
Eberechi Eze has his free-kick disallowed after an on-field review by VAR against Chelsea and referee Darren England explained the decision
Free-kick law explained
The IFAB Laws of the Game for 2025/26 state: "Where three or more defending team players form a 'wall', all attacking team players must remain at least 1 m (1 yd) from the 'wall' until the ball is in play.
"If, when a free kick is taken, an attacking team player is less than 1 m (1 yd) from a 'wall' formed by three or more defending team players, an indirect free kick is awarded."
Referee Darren England ruled out the goal after consulting the pitchside monitor and announced the decision to Stamford Bridge. He said: "After review, the Crystal Palace No 6 (Guehi) is less than one metre into the wall as the shot is taken. Therefore, it's an indirect free-kick and a disallowed goal."
Sky Sports' Micah Richards said: "There can't be any complaints but it feels like VAR is anti-goals."
Roy Keane added: "Attacking teams now need to be aware of this rule. We see players in there blocking and being a nuisance all the time.
"Guehi's almost gone too far in being a nuisance and shoving players about. He just needed to do it a little bit."
VAR review of Eberechi Eze freekick vs Chelsea
Image: VAR review of Eberechi Eze free-kick vs Chelsea
Palace had the better of the first half and, two minutes after the Eze incident, Adam Wharton turned cleverly in midfield before sliding a fine pass through for Jean-Phillipe Mateta, who was denied by Sanchez.
Chelsea had just three shot on target from 19 attempts, going closest in the third minute from Marc Cucurella's flick header, which was cleared off the line by Ismaila Sarr.
The hosts had more control in the second half yet failed to test Dean Henderson. Liam Delap stuck a late volley straight at the Palace goalkeeper before substitute Andrey Santos skied a good chance.
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