Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino lashed out on the use of VAR in the Premier League after Chelsea drew 2-2 with Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The VAR dominated the conversation after the match following a controversial decision by the center-referee Craig Pawson to rule out Chelsea’s late winner.
Aston Villa had taken the lead in the game as early as four minutes into proceedings when Cucurella had the ball into his net mistakenly.
In the 42nd minute, the hosts boosted their chances of a win, extending the score margin through Roger’s strike.
At the break, Chelsea went down 2-0 but were the better side throughout the first 45 with more possession and attacking threats.
In the second half, the London outfit successfully chalked off Aston Villa’s 2-0 lead with goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher.
They nearly completed a comeback when Axel Disasi scored a header with the last touch of the ball but the goal was ruled out after VAR check.
As per the VAR review, Benoit Badiashile purportedly fouled Diego Carlos in the build-up to the goal.
Mauricio Pochettino raised objections to the decision in his post-match press conference.
According to him, Benoit Badiashile’s challenge on Carlos was not enough to be deemed a foul, hence his side were wrongly denied a winner by VAR.
He added VAR has damaged English football with incorrect and error-ridden decisions.
“‘I don’t want to talk bad about the referee, but it is unbelievable, it’s ridiculous.
”It is really painful as it has damaged English football, the image, and even Aston Villa players and the fans didn’t understand why
“He (the referee) said it was a foul and if you see the challenge, it is a challenge. If every single challenge like this is a foul, we won’t finish with 11 players in any game.’
Away from the deadlock at Villa Park, Chelsea will return to Premier League action on Thursday, May 2. They will host London neighbors Tottenham Hotspur in another Premier League cracker.
