Chelsea vs West Ham: Graham Potter's men denied clear penalty as Joao Felix, Enzo Fernandez star

• Chelsea players bemoaned a decision not to award them a penalty during their early kick-off match against West Ham
• Tomas Soucek handled the ball in the penalty area but neither the centre referee nor the Video Assistant Referee gave the spot-kick
• With the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials Limited(PGMOL) yet to provide the reasoning, we take a look at what the VAR might have seen/considered

Chelsea fans and players were left seething with anger after they were denied what they thought was a clear penalty against West Ham on February 11th.

The two sides lined up at London Stadium for the first match of this game week's schedule with both teams in dire need of maximum points.

New signings Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez combined to give Chelsea the lead in the 16th minute. Felix and Havertz had further goals chalked off for offside.

Chelsea’s transfer news: How much money did Chelsea spend this transfer window?

Football

Former Chelsea player Emerson restored parity against the run of play. Tomas Soucek thought he had won it for David Moyes' side only for VAR to disallow it.

Chelsea's penalty claim

Soucek then almost turned villain after he handled the ball in the penalty area but referee Craig Pawson failed to award a spot kick.

The Czech midfielder was going down already when the ball struck him on the hand, deflecting Conor Gallagher's shot.

It is hard to understand the official thinking given that the arm was not in a natural position.

However, football rules dictate that if a player is falling and their arm is between themselves and the ground for support and the ball hits the arm, it will not be a penalty. It would be adjudged that he used his arm for support.

Manchester United transfer news: How many players did the Red Devils bring in this transfer window?

Football

Pawson and the Video Assistant Referee seemed to have been convinced Soucek used his arm for support. That's up for discussion with Chelsea fans condemning the decision online.

Cucurella's struggles

Sports Brief has also reported that Chelsea fans all said the same thing about Marc Cucurella after a shambolic first half against West Ham United on Saturday, February 11.

Cucurella only joined the Blues in the summer of 2022 in Chelsea’s record-breaking spending spree for £62million from Brighton.

He was initially brought to deputise Ben Chilwell but eventually made the first XI because of Chilwell’s consistent injury concerns.