CHELSEA were lucky their opening goal against Luton in the FA Cup was allowed to stand as there were TWO balls on the pitch.
Tammy Abraham fired home Timo Werner’s set up to put a smile on under-fire Blues boss Frank Lampard’s face.
There were two balls on the pitch as Chelsea mounted an attackCredit: BBC
But by the laws of the game the goal should have been chalked off.
In the build-up there were two yellow balls on the field.
And that left many football fans fuming on social media that the underdogs had been given a raw deal.
One Leicester fan tweeted: “How’s that Chelsea goal been allowed ffs.”
⚽ Read our Chelsea live blog for the very latest news from the Bridge
And a rival Manchester United fan joked that Chelsea needed ‘two balls on the pitch to score’.
Michael Ellis posted that it was ‘interesting’ as to why the goal was allowed to stand.
Newcastle fan Colin Simpson even suggested there was ANOTHER reason as to why the strike should have been chalked off.
He wrote: “Chelsea scored form a foul throw and two balls on the pitch!
“The thrower only had one foot on the floor when he took it quickly!”
Luton boss Nathan Jones told beIN SPORTS: “The fourth official said it’s not multi-ball but the referee said it was.
“I tried to get clarification from the referee but he was just robotic and quoting the rule book and not making eye contact to a manager who was being courteous towards him.
“And there was a ball on the pitch – two of our players were pointing.
“I’ve been a player for 29 years and been a manager and coach for another eight or nine.
“Whenever there’s a ball on the pitch, the game gets stopped. But apparently the rules have changed.
“The rules change constantly at the minute. I have no idea about handball or the offside rule – that’s the disappointment.”
BBC commentator for the game Karen Carney quipped: “Chelsea only scored because there were two balls on the pitch”.
At half-time the BBC panel of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Danny Murphy were in agreement that Luton were ‘unlucky’ and that if the referee had seen it, it wouldn’t have counted.
Murphy said: “It’s an interference if you’re a player on the pitch watching the ball that’s on the pitch. I think they have every reason to be upset.
“If you’re a centre-half or central midfielder looking at the ball that’s on the pitch thinking, ‘what are they going to do with it?’ while the other ball five or ten yards away is on the pitch being played behind your back players. I don’t think it should have stood.”
Hasselbaink added: “Ziyech can’t do anything about it because he doesn’t expect that ball to come back in But the referee sees it so I don’t think it should have stood.”
The Blues ran out 3-1 winners thanks to Abraham’s hat-trick to book their spot in the fifth round.
That was despite a howler from Kepa Arrizabalaga which gifted Jordan Clark a route back into the game for Luton.
⚽ Read our Chelsea live blog for the very latest news from the Bridge
Frank Lampard comes out fighting with his job on the line to attack reporters criticising Chelsea
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
