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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tom Coley & Stephen Killen

Referee gives controversial Edouard Mendy VAR call verdict after Chelsea scrape past West Ham

Chelsea were fortunate to beat West Ham after a late VAR call overturned Maxwell Cornet's 90th-minute equaliser. The Ivorian substitute had already hit the post with a header moments before Kai Havertz's eventual match winner and had his last-minute strike cancelled out.

The Hammers had gone ahead earlier in the second half, capitalising on Edouard Mendy's mistake at a set-piece, but were pegged back by Ben Chilwell's improvised finish before Havertz volleyed in.

The Blues were nearly denied a win, though, after a massive defensive miscommunication allowed Jarred Bowen to intercept Reece James' weak-headed pass back. Mendy was caught in two minds over whether to gather the ball or not and parried it straight to Cornet to score.

READ MORE: Chelsea vs West Ham LIVE: Confirmed team news, kick-off time, match and goal updates

Whilst David Moyes was celebrating, and Thomas Tuchel was fuming, referee Andy Madely was eventually sent to his screen by VAR after Bowen caught Mendy during the back pass. The decision did get overturned, but the nature of Chelsea's frailty this season was still evident. Former referee Peter Walton has given his verdict. "Look, if that had have happened in the training ground, I don't think Bowen would've made contact with the goalkeeper," Walton told BT Sport Score.

"What I think is, he's been quite cute and dragged his leg and paid the penalty for it. Do I think it's a foul, per se? Probably not, but I think Bowen's done enough to inconvenience the goalkeeper. It has been raised [VAR] but don't forget, referees have always been overprotective of goalkeepers, and that's just another point there."

Tuchel might feel his side is owed a refereeing decision after questioning Anthony Taylor and Mike Dean following the 2-2 draw with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.

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