Crystal Palace denied by uncommon rule as Eberechi Eze free-kick disallowed against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - 'You live and die by VAR'

For all their recent excellence on the field, Crystal Palace have felt aggrieved by decisions made above them in recent months - and there was another which left Oliver Glasner's side deflated as they opened their Premier League campaign at Chelsea. Eberechi Eze thought he had scored from a free-kick on 13 minutes, but a VAR check put paid to his efforts, with the reasoning sparking mass debate.

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Chris Richards said everyone at Stamford Bridge thought Eberechi Eze had opened the scoring for Crystal Palace at Chelsea before a little-known rule put paid to his well-struck free-kick.

Eze thought he had opened the scoring for Palace on 13 minutes when he thundered home a free-kick, with a cunning routine seeing Marc Guehi usher Moises Caicedo to the side and open a gap for Eze to let fly at Robert Sanchez's goal.

Palace wheeled off in celebration, but the strike soon underwent a VAR review - with many in the stands unsure what was being looked at.

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Of any potential infringements, Guehi's barge on Caicedo seemed the obvious one. But after the review, referee Darren England adjudged Eze's strike would be chalked off instead due to Guehi standing too close to Chelsea's wall.

"Everyone in the stadium thought it was a goal," Palace defender Richards told Sky Sports. "But you live and die by VAR, and today we died from it. It was a good free-kick and hopefully we get more of them."

As is now standard procedure in the Premier League, England announced his verdict to the Stamford Bridge crowd.

England said: "After review, away No. 6 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."

By the letter of the law, the decision was a correct one.

The International Football Association Board's (IFAB) states in Law 13: "Where three or more defending team players form a ‘wall’, all attacking team players must remain at least one metre from the 'wall' until the ball is in play."

By pushing into Caicedo, Guehi ended up almost side-by-side with Joao Pedro in the wall, before Eze hit his strike.

The decision sparked an unprecedented measure by England when Chelsea were awarded a free-kick, down the same end at Stamford Bridge, in the second half.

As the Palace players formed their wall, England sprayed a one-metre line around them, showing plainly what would constitute an infringement should Chelsea have tried something similar.

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For Palace, the disallowed goal was another decision going against them following a summer which was embroiled in their uncertain UEFA Europa League participation.

UEFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) deemed Palace to have breached the European body's multi-club ownership rules due to John Textor's Eagle Football Holdings' majority stake in Lyon, thus seeing Oliver Glasner's side drop out of the Europa League and enter the UEFA Conference League, with Nottingham Forest taking their place.

Glasner: I spoke to them more than my wife and kids

Another uncertainty during Palace's summer - particularly in recent weeks - has been the future of Guehi and Eze, with reports that the latter is nearing a potential move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Speaking to BBC's Match of the Day following the stalemate at Stamford Bridge, Glasner reiterated the pair's commitment to the club, and said he has regularly communicated with them amid the growing speculation.

Asked if he considered leaving Eze and Guehi out of his squad, Glasner replied: "Not at all. Ebs and Marc, there has been a lot of noise about these two players in the last week. Everyone could see the performances against Liverpool and today they were 100% aligned with this team and Crystal Palace.

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"As long as they are 100% committed, they will play as they are so good. I watched them all week in training, I spoke to them almost daily, maybe more than my kids and wife, but it's been worth it to talk to them.

"They didn't just show they are great footballers, but they are great people and that's what I expected."

Palace return to action on Thursday, as they enter the fourth round of Conference League qualification against Norwegian side Fredrikstad.

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