Well, that VAR was a big talking pint again last weekend. Something is not right in its implementation in the English game, as we saw it work quite well in European competition this week. A human error at Stockley Park meant that le Celso was not sent off for Spurs when he really should have been. Chelsea got the result they deserved in the end [Image above from 90Min]. There was then controversy at Turf Moor where VAR gave Burnley a penalty after Adam Smith handled it in his area but only after Harry Wilson thought he’d equalised at the other end for Bournemouth. That is bizarre. Away from that, there were some really good football matches with Arsenal playing out a cracker with Everton and Liverpool coming from 2-1 down at home to West Ham to win 3-2 as they continue to march towards the title.
The Champions League second round ties continued and for a spell, it looked like all four English sides would lose the first leg of their respective ties. Following defeats for Liverpool and Spurs last week, Chelsea were undone in the second half at Stamford Bridge by Bayern Munich and Manchester City were 1-0 down against real Madrid. A quick double from Gabriel Jesus and a Kevin De Bruyne penalty gave them a famous win at the Bernabeau. In the Europa League, Manchester United swept past Club Brugge 5-0, Wolves fell to a 3-2 defeat in Spain to Espanyol but progress nonetheless but Arsenal, oh my. Having beaten Olympiacos in Greece, they lost 1-0 in 90 minutes forcing extra time and lost it in the final moments.
