Chelsea VAR penalty at Crystal Palace a mistake, panel says

Chelsea should not have been awarded a penalty for handball in their 3-1 win at Crystal Palace last month, the Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has said.

With Chelsea leading 2-0, Palace defender Jaydee Canvot blocked Joao Pedro's goal-bound shot with his arm.

Referee Darren England allowed play to continue but was sent to the pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR), Matt Donohue.

England watched replays on the screen for almost two minutes, and BBC Sport understands he took a lot of persuading.

The five members of the KMI Panel unanimously voted that the original on-field decision was correct and it was a mistake for the VAR to intervene.

It can be a confusing area of law.

The Ifab expressly says that an arm stopping the ball from entering the goal should not automatically be a penalty. There has to be a handball offence.

Yet in its briefings, Uefa has told referees it always expects a spot-kick.

In the Premier League, officials are told to have some discretion over arm position.

The KMI Panel felt the VAR intervention was incorrect because Canvot "is not making his body unnaturally bigger" and that there was a "small deflection off the hip".

It added: "The VAR intervention and final outcome after the on-field review, which resulted in a penalty and yellow card for a non-deliberate handball offence that denied an obvious goal, was considered to be incorrect."

Yet on Saturday, Newcastle conceded a penalty against Brentford, given on-field by referee Andy Madley, for handball by Jacob Murphy.

It was very similar in nature. A shot on target, stopped by an arm quite close to the body.

However, the Brentford penalty is likely to be judged to be a correct decision.

The Murphy handball had no deflection on to the arm, he was facing the shot and appeared to move his arm into the path of the ball in a non-deliberate way.

You can understand why fans might struggle to see the difference.