Crystal Palace were denied a dream start to their Premier League campaign after Eberechi Eze’s superb free-kick was ruled out for an unusual infringement in their 0-0 draw at Chelsea.
Eze curled a thunderous strike past Robert Sánchez in the 13th minute at Stamford Bridge, only for VAR James Bell to intervene after spotting Palace captain Marc Guehi pushing Moisés Caicedo to open a gap in Chelsea’s wall.
Referee Darren England reviewed the footage at the pitchside monitor and confirmed the decision.
“After review, the Crystal Palace No 6 [Guehi] is less than one metre away from the wall as the shot is taken. Therefore, it’s an indirect free-kick and a disallowed goal,” England announced to the stadium.
What the law says
According to IFAB’s 2025/26 Laws of the Game:
“Where three or more defending team players form a ‘wall’, all attacking team players must remain at least 1m from the ‘wall’ until the ball is in play. If, when a free-kick is taken, an attacking player is less than 1m from a ‘wall’ formed by three or more defending players, an indirect free-kick is awarded.”
Has this happened before?
Such decisions are rare in the Premier League, the only comparable incident occurred last season when Reece James scored a last-minute free-kick for Chelsea against Bournemouth.
Reece James’ free-kick against Bournemouth in January was allowed to stand despite two Chelsea players being within one metre of the wall
On that occasion, two Chelsea players – Marc Cucurella and Tosin – stood within a metre of the wall, but the goal was allowed to stand.
Glasner calls for caution
Palace boss Oliver Glasner urged officials to apply the law consistently but admitted his side must adapt.
“I know we have to be one yard away from the wall. The block started too early, and of course we have to accept it,” Glasner said.
“But the Premier League has to be careful when they disallow these kinds of goals, because in every free-kick there are blocks somewhere. I was surprised because VAR is used cautiously in England, which I really appreciate. But we’ll analyse it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Pundit reaction: “VAR is anti-goals”
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards sympathised with Palace, saying: “There can’t be any complaints, but it feels like VAR is anti-goals.”
Roy Keane added: “Attacking teams need to be aware of this rule. We see players blocking and being a nuisance all the time. Guehi went too far with the shove – he just needed to do a little less.”
The decision proved crucial, as Palace had to settle for a point while Chelsea’s new-look frontline misfired on the opening weekend.