Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella made what looked like a quite clear handball just on the edge of his box against Arsenal today, and yet nothing was given.
Many Gunners fans will feel this was not far off from being a penalty, though on balance a free-kick to Mikel Arteta’s side would probably have been the fair result.
Still, referee Michael Oliver somehow didn’t see the ball coming off Cucurella’s arm, and nothing was given against the Spaniard at all.
Arsenal certainly won’t be happy about this if Chelsea go on to equalise late on in today’s even contest at Stamford Bridge, though it’s the visitors who still have a 1-0 lead at the time of writing.
A handball was not called on Marc Cucurella.
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— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 6, 2022
Cucurella joined Chelsea from Brighton in the summer, but hasn’t made the most convincing start to life in west London so far.
Moments like this show that he is perhaps a bit of a hot-head at crucial moments, which doesn’t bode well for his Blues career.
Was clearly OUTSIDE the box!
Not a biggy as we won anyway, but why was there no free kick after the handball? I seem to remember VAR awarded a free kick for Man U in the build up to Martinelli’s goal this season, which ruled it out and a free kick awarded to Palace to rule out Sokratis’s goal a couple of seasons back. Do they make the rules up as they go?