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 a move to Tottenham Hotspur, 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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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 away from the wall as the shot is taken. Therefore, it’s an indirect free-kick and a disallowed goal.”
Sky Sports’ Chris Sutton said on co-commentary that the decision was “scandalous” and “extremely harsh”.
Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner said: “The Premier League have to be careful when they disallow these kinds of goals because I think in every direct free-kick, there are blocks somewhere around the wall. But, of course, we have to accept it because that’s the rule.”
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.”
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.
Player ratings:
Chelsea: Sanchez (7); James (6), Acheampong (7), Chalobah (7), Cucurella (7); Caicedo (7), Enzo (6); Neto (6), Palmer (7), Gittens (6); Joao Pedro (6).
Subs: Estevao (6), Delap (6), Guston (6), Santos (6).
Crystal Palace: Henderson (7); Richards (7), Lacroix (7), Guehi (7); Munoz (7), Wharton (7), Hughes (7), Mitchell (7); Sarr (6), Mateta (7), Eze (7).
Subs: Lerma (6), Devenny (n/a)
Player of the Match: Chris Richards
Glasner: PL has to be careful disallowing Eze goal
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Oliver Glasner says the Premier League has to be careful when disallowing goals similar Eberechi Eze’s ruled freekick against Chelsea.
Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner on Eze’s disallowed goal:
“I know we have to be one yard away from the wall. I think maybe we have a situation where we sometimes try to block like everybody’s doing. And, obviously, the block started too early.
“But the Premier League have to be careful when they disallow these kinds of goals. Because I think in every direct free-kick, there are blocks somewhere around the wall. But, of course, we have to accept it because that’s the rule.
“I’m very pleased with the performance today, for most of the time. Just at the end, we lost the ball too quickly and gave them two or three chances, but the defensive work was excellent, the players did a great job. We scored, but it was disallowed. We created two, three, four chances, but we didn’t score, so that’s why we take this point.”
Maresca: We will slowly be better
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Enzo Maresca says he’s very happy with his side’s performance against Crystal Palace in 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca:
“We always try to win the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but I think overall we deserve it. We created enough chances between the first half and the second half.
“Apart from the free-kick where the goal was disallowed, I don’t think we concede chances. But at the same time, we know how tough they are, how well organised they are, and this is the reason why they beat Liverpool and City in the last two finals.
“They already played, I think, seven, eight games. And for us, last week we played two friendly games, but we tried to share minutes. So the first real game was today.
“But for sure, slowly, slowly, we’re going to be better.”
Chelsea suffering with CWC hangover
Sky Sports’ Callum Bishop:
When Chelsea comprehensively dispatched Paris Saint-Germain in the New Jersey heat back in July, there was a sense of excitement growing around Enzo Maresca’s squad. Perhaps they could be a dark horse for the 2025/26 Premier League title.
Cut to their opening game against Stamford Bridge and the difference is night and day. Of course, no one was expecting a similar style of game. Crystal Palace were never going to be as open as the European champions, and the hosts weren’t going to rely on blistering counter-attacks. But the drop-off in intensity from Maresca’s men was clear to see.
Chelsea looked sluggish, as if they were still dusting off the cobwebs. And it brings into question what their preparation was like before the start of the new campaign. Due to going all the way in the Club World Cup, the Blues only returned to training on August 4 and played just two pre-season friendlies. Maresca even admitted after the game that this was his side’s first proper game since the tournament, as he had taken the exhibitions with Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan as opportunities to distribute minutes evenly, rather than just to his star players.
Some may point to the fact that Manchester City were also present at the Club World Cup and managed to comfortably dispatch Wolves 4-0 in their opening fixture. However, their shocking elimination at the hands of Al-Hilal gave Pep Guardiola a chance to bring his players back a few days earlier – July 28 to be exact – and that clearly aided them.
Ultimately, perhaps Chelsea’s downfall in their preparations continued to be the size of their squad, with Maresca’s willingness to give everyone pre-season minutes costing them against a well-drilled Palace side. They will need to recover and get back up to speed quickly, as they visit West Ham on Friday, live on Sky Sports, and the Hammers will be desperate to bounce back after a tough start to the season themselves.
Eze’s disallowed strike a reminder of importance
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Oliver Glasner reveals Eberechi Eze’s release clause in his contract ‘has gone’ and his future is the club’s decision.
If anyone looked likely to hand Crystal Palace all three points at Stamford Bridge, it was Eberechi Eze. And he nearly did, if not for VAR stepping in to rule out the free-kick that he fired past Robert Sanchez.
“I expect him being back and playing for us against Frederikstad,” was Oliver Glasner’s response when asked by Sky Sports about the 27-year-old’s future. But if it does turn out that was the last time Eze is seen in Palace colours, it was another reminder of just how influential he is.
Since the start of the 2023/24 season, the Eagles have won once in 15 games without the England international. Palace have lost big players before and replaced them. Ismaila Sarr is proof of that as he has stepped in magnificently after Michael Olise joined Bayern Munich. However, an Eze departure could turn out to have major consequences for the FA Cup winners moving forward.
Story of the match in stats…