Troy Deeney's seen it all in the beautiful game, but was still bewildered by some questionable refereeing at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea lost 3-1 at home to Brighton as their defensive issues were again highlighted for the world to see. Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for the hosts but at the start of the second half they were quickly on the back foot due to a Trevoh Chalobah red card.
The English centre-back took down the in-form Diego Gomez, who was through on goal for a simple red card. Referee Simon Hooper initially waved off the foul, but the video assistants advised him to reconsider, a decision which took a good five minutes.
Referee takes ages to make a decision
“This has been three or four minutes,” Watford legend Deeney said. “Then they've sent him to the screen now. It's taking him another two or three minutes because he's seen the same incident 67 times. Just make a decision, man!
“When they say deliberate goal-scoring opportunity, if it's so deliberate why did you not give it in the first place? Why does the VAR send you to go and look at the screen? You take 27 looks at the screen and then you say it's deliberate. Honestly, these referees need to get it together. I like Simon but get it together.”
More VAR issues for Brighton
If that wasn’t enough, there was more drama at the end of the match. Danny Welbeck levelled things up in the 77th minute, and then with Brighton pushing for a winner ten minutes later, a high boot from Malo Gusto in the Chelsea box took down Yankuba Minteh.
“It has to be a penalty, look how high his foot is,” Deeney said. “Gusto’s been terrible since he’s come on.” However, after a VAR review, Gusto got away with it. “That is mental,” Deeney responded. “Can you explain that to me? If that’s not in the box he’s giving a foul and a yellow for dangerous play.”
Despite all the chaos, Brighton managed to master it and see home their advantage. Maxim De Cuyper tapped in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time before Welbeck added the gloss with a delightful second.
