Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Why Cole Palmer goal to put Chelsea 2-1 up vs Wolves should not have stood
Cole Palmer scored a delightful goal to put Chelsea 2-1 up against Wolves at Molineux earlier on Sunday, although his effort should have been disallowed.
The England international scored his first goal of the 2024/25 campaign thanks to a fine assist from Nicolas Jackson – which came after Robert Sanchez had spotted movement in attack and launched a superb pass towards the Chelsea duo.
However, something the Spain international did should have seen Cole Palmer‘s goal against Wolves ruled out…
What Robert Sanchez did to make Cole Palmer’s Chelsea goal illegal
By the laws of the game, the ball cannot be moving when a set-piece is taken, hence the term dead ball situation.
As some eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed, Sanchez struck the ball towards Jackson before it had stopped rolling, so technically, Darren England should have blown his whistle and called for the goal kick to be retaken.
VAR was also unable to intervene, as the official rulebook states that technology cannot interfere with “restarts” of play – such as goal kicks and throw ins.
Therefore, Palmer’s goal was allowed to stand.
Of course, the fact the ball was still rolling makes little difference to a goal that was scored roughly 80 yards away from Sanchez’s kick, although in a time where referees seem more pedantic than ever when it comes to the finer details of the rules, it was a surprise that England missed the infringement.
Wolves fans will be frustrated
Wolves fans will argue that, had Palmer’s goal been ruled out, they actually would have gone into the interval leading 2-1, as Jorgen Strand Larsen scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Of course, Chelsea ran riot in the second half, with Noni Madueke scoring a 14-minute hat trick to secure all three points for the Blues, but the dynamic of Gary O’Neil’s team talk surely would have changed if his Wolves side went into the break 2-1 ahead, and the Old Gold may have come out more defensive, aiming to protect their points.
Hopefully, Wolves get a controversial decision in their favour at some point this season to balance things out, as this was undoubtedly a sloppy piece of officiating from England and his assistants.